The Seeker
by HelenTheMoon
Summary: Black Flag - Bleeding effect AU. Edward Kenway knew by the experiences of others that something Big was going to happen and SOON. EdwardxCaroline Ch 12 up: The last chhapter of the original version: An unlikely alliance. Please review!
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer : I do not own any of the Assassin's Creed games, products or storylines.  
**

* * *

 **Chapter I**

In the end, Edward Kenway decided, most of his problems derived from the fact that he was not entirely human.

That sentence might need some explaining.

Edward _remembered._ He could remember Masyaf's training grounds, the village bursting with life underneath the great fortress, the massacre outside Acre **[1]** , the three different calls of prayer in Jerusalem, the bustle and hustle of the merchants in Damascus, the white and blue of Cyprus **[2]**. He could remember the constant noise of the markets, the dry heat and the scent of filth, the sound of at least four different languages in his ears. He could remember the merchants selling their products – carpets, flavourings and precious stones mostly – women chasing after people begging for money, other women walking around with pots on their heads – and that was really an impressive feat of balance – preachers saying whatever it was that they were paid to say in front of the crowds, the guards – with swords and bows instead of muskets – being harsh to everyone. He could remember middle-ages European armors and Muslim getups in the same street.

But the Holy Lands were not the only place that he could recall. Edward could say proudly that he knew Italy like the back of his hand. The beautiful Firenze – he could not understand why everyone insisted on calling the city Florence – with her hopeless romantics, the stinky, dark and mysterious Venezia, the bright and ancient Roma, the nice-little-town feeling of Monteriggioni. He had also found Constantinople – seriously, that city did _not need_ all those names it had been branded with over time – to be very similar to Acre; only bigger, brighter and happier. Strange for a city that had just been conquered. The people of all those cities seemed happier, the place full of alluring courtesans, crafty thieves, overly polite merchants, holier-than-thou nobles, the Jesus-so-bloody-annoying minstrels, and the perhaps not so creepy doctors.

Both of those eras are completely different from each other, and from Bristol in which he lived in. He counted Altair and Ezio lucky, in a way. They had seen and experienced _everything_ , not stuck in one place and one country, like Edward was. They had both suffered unspeakable tragedies and murdered far more people than anyone cared to – or _could_ – count, but they had lived their lives to their fullest. They were the core of the chaos, the center of the war between Assassin's and Templars in their respective eras.

Edward himself did not feel any real obligation or commitment to the Creed and the Brotherhood, but he knew for a fact that he hated Templars. The whole impression the Edward had gotten from Ezio and Altair's memories was that the Templars were a whole bunch of control freaks with superiority complex who had not realized that the Crusades were _over_. Based on what he remembered, that shady war was still raging. And that made Edward restless. Something was itching in him, it made his blood – oh, his _blood_ – a little hotter and pressuring the veins in his wrist in the place where a hidden blade should have been, like a warning from the old gods whose blood he shared; _something was going to happen_ , and _soon_. And Edward as sure as hell was not going to be sitting around Bristol when that happened.

* * *

Edward's "I'm not going to be stuck in one Place." attitude did not sit well with his parents. They were not Assassins like Altair or Ezio's. They were sheep shepherds. And that did not bode well with Edward's restlessness. In fact, the whole reason the family had moved from Whales to Bristol was in order to calm Edward's raging spirit. But that did not help. Not at all. Something about Bristol made the ten years old boy – was he really that young? – even more jumpy.

Edward was a mystery to his very own parents. He used to ask so many weird questions when he was but a toddler, why did those people were glowing blue and why red, why did the bushes and haystacks glow white, why was that ghost dressed do strangely ("He must have been a Foreigner.", decided the boy and dropped the subject) **[3]**. Edward's parents could only pray, for their little boy's blue eyes seemed to turn gold when he asked those questions.

But as Edward grew older, his abnormality stopped manifesting in strange visions and became something much more alarming. He had become shockingly mature for his age, asking his elders pointed questions on difficult subject, like he was trying to prove himself a point. And as if that was not enough, he had developed an interest for weapons. His mother felt her heart almost stop when she had caught her thirteen years old son throwing knives on a wall and ALWAYS hitting dead center. Edward was an unnaturally skilled fighter, like he had years of experience under his belt, unafraid of facing anyone no matter what the odds, because he knew he could win.

But the most frightening thing of all was that Edward _knew_ stuff. There was no secret that could be kept from him. And that, deep deep down, terrified his parents. They loved their boy more than anything in the world, but they were scared. Just like everyone else was. Edward was looking for something, he was waiting for a signal, he was a barrel of gunpowderthat could be ignited at any given moment, a restlessness that only the eldest of men knew, like the teenager was awaiting for orders to get to the battlefield.

His name is Edward James Kenway, and he was the fourth of Adam's line. He was the Seeker.

* * *

 **Author notes: This fanfic is heavily influenced by the fanfic "The Bleeding Effect" by Captprice. The credit for the idea goes to him.**

 **This fanfic has the form of oneshots and drabbles in chronological order. The updates will be irregular and there is chance I drop this project at any given time.**

 **For anyone who knows me as an authoress from the Yu-Gi-Oh! fandom, I have not abandoned my fanfics (Reactor's Children, The Royal Court, Parallel thoughts) but there are some HUGE plot gaps and therefore I won't be updating any time soon.**

 **English IS NOT my first language.**

 **Direct speach and thoughts will use capital letters in every noun, just like the Black Flag game.**

 **[1] The Siege of Acre happened just a few weeks before Altair's first in-game visit in Acre. William of Montferrat handed over a whole bunch of hostages from both Acre and Saladin's army to King Richard, who executed them all and dumped the bodies outside the walls of Acre. This is an actual historical fact.**

 **[2] After Altair killed Al Mualim, he chased after a rumor concerning Templar activity in Cyprus. For full details watch the walkthrough for "Altair's chronicles". (WARNING: the graphics are HORRIBLE)**

 **[3] The ghost is Darim, Altair's son. He went to England after Maria's death because he could not stand his father drowning himself in the Apple.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer : I do not own Assassin's Creed.  
**

* * *

 **Chapter II**

There were some things, Edward had noticed, that did not change over the centuries. The first was the haystacks, which were always located at the most convenient yet totally impossible places. The second was that the guards would always fall for the stupidest of tricks. And the third was that there would _always_ be problems with drunkards.

It was a fairly ordinary day for Edward up until that point. He was heading towards a tavern where he was a regular customer, "The Auld Shillelagh", a small place just outside Bristol. Edward quite liked it there. He had his drinking buddies and a lot of alcohol along with quite a few women; one would say that Edward, at the age of seventeen, was too young to hang out in such a place. But hey! It was a nice and pretty effective way to forget his problems and release some tension. Perhaps he was like that because of Ezio; that guy was always spending his money on women and wine when he was in the same age. But at the same time Ezio had lost half his family in that age, and since Edward could recall the memories of his ancestors easier when they were around the same age, that affected him too.

However, Ezio's traumatic experiences were only part of the problem. Edward was now seventeen and that was old enough for him to worry that there was fat chance he never gets out of Bristol. His father, Bernard, was a sheep shepherd, his grandfather was a sheep shepherd, his grandfather's father was a sheep shepherd, and now it seemed like Edward would be a sheep shepherd as well. And he did not like that at all. He had more important things to do, darn it! Or more like, he _felt_ like he had more important things to do.

A good enough reason to head to his favourite tavern when his parents were out.

He had just gotten in the tavern when he noticed that something was wrong. You see, Edward was used to keeping track of every girl in town, and that was one that he had never seen before. More importantly, this tavern was most definitely _not_ the kind of place a girl like her would hang out at. She had the modest appearance of a housemaid in some rich household, and such servants were only seen in town when they were to purchase supplies and other goods. Yet it was very much obvious that groceries were that last thing that the maid had in mind right now. He was yelling – very loud and in complete contrast to her modest appearance – and she was surrounded by three other guys; all older that she was.

Three guys who Edward knew all too well; Tom and Seth Cobleigh, and Julien somebody – he never bothered learning his surname. All three of them assholes; one pointed look and it was enough for them to take it personally, like you were looking at them down your nose or something. Well, they certainly did look Edward down _their_ noses, and that had resulted in quite a few fist fights. And there was no hiding their lecherous looks as they ate the drunk girl with their eyes.

It did not take a genius to put two and two together; those three had "invited" the lass for a drink, she accepted the offer, and now they were waiting – impatiently – until she was drunk enough for them to take advantage of her. Edward's morals were loose in more than a few places, but this was _not_ one of them.

True to Edward's suspicions, the three lads were ready to "escort" the young lady out. "You've had too much to drink, Lovely. Let's get you Home, shall We?".

"To Bed.", added Seth, obviously thinking that nobody would hear him even though the whole tavern did – no better than a toddler, honestly. "Let's be getting you to Bed.".

Oh, they were asking for it. Edward signaled to the barman and another patron; both refused. Cowards. Not that Edward could not take those three assholes on his own with ease, but he really wanted to see who would be willing to put some boundaries to the liberties of the customers in the tavern. If the tavern's very own owner was not willing to put his foot down… Oh well.

Edward stepped outside the dark tavern and into the sunlight; he blinked by the sudden change. As expected, the asshole trio and the girl had not gotten too far. In fact, they were just outside the road. Perfect. Now _everyone_ who paid attention would see what followed.

"Well, Tom Cobleigh.", started Edward, knowing it did not take much to rill them up. "The Things you see on a fine Afternoon. Why, just you and your Cronies are getting drunk, and getting a poor defenseless Woman even drunker.".

The girl finally seemed to realize that something was wrong with her company, as she released her arm from Tom's grip. However Tom did not seem to really care at the moment as he had already raised an accusing finger towards Edward. "Now, just You stay out of This, Edward Kenway, You young good-for-nothing. You're as drunk as I am and yer Morals just as loose. I don't need to be given a talking-to by the Likes of You.". By the time Tom had finished his little speech Seth and Julien had already turned towards Edward as well and the girl seemed to had entered some sort of sleep-walking state.

"Well, loose Morals I might have, Tom Cobleigh, but I don't need to pour Ale down a Girl's Throat before taking her to Bed, and I certainly don't need two Friends to help me with the Task.". Edward said that with a smile; he really was more drunk than he thought. He was always trying not to drink too much alcohol as he knew it was unwise, but it was so easy to lose track.

Apparently that little insult did its work too well. Tom had turned an interesting shade of red. "Why, you cheeky little Bastard, you. I'm going to put her on my Cart is what I'm going to do, and take her Home.".

"I have no Doubt that you intend to put her on your Cart and take her Home.", replied Edward smoothly. "It's what you plan to do between putting her in the Cart and reaching Home that concerns me.".

"That concerns you, does it? A broken Nose and a Couple of broken Ribs will be concerning you unless you mind your own bloody Business.".

Absentmindedly, Edward noticed a lone figure, half-hidden by the trees, heading towards their direction, but he paid no mind to it. All his good humor from earlier disappeared, and his voice showed a steely edge that would make any man less drunk to think twice before challenging him. "Now you just leave that Girl alone, Tom Cobleigh, or I won't be responsible for my Actions.".

The three men did as he said, and the girl seemed almost relieved that they finally let her go. Guess she was not sleep walking after all.

Edward in the mean time calculated the odds. Three against one. He had to admit that while Altair and Ezio had fought dozens of times with much worse odds than that, Edward himself had never really gotten in such a fight. Nobody wanted anything to do with the most abnormal lad in town. Also, all of them were more or less just as drunk – which was quite a lot – and Edward was not at the very prime of his strength right now. From the other hand, Tom was old enough to be Edward's father – heck, he _was_ the same age with Edward's father! – Seth was Tom's son – and the fact that he was helping his father get a young girl to his bed said quite a lot about what kind of people they were. Seth was most likely to back off when fists started flying. However Julien might prove trouble; he certainly looked like he could handle himself.

And yet… Edward remembered the lone rider who was still approaching. Worst case scenario, if he could not handle those three bastards alone, he could hold them off until said rider showed up. More than likely he would decide to help. Plus, the trio would not be so brave in front of an audience.

"So,", Edward continued, looking for a fight. "even if you end up leaving me a bloody Heap by the Side of this here Road, and carry that young Lassie off anyway, I'm going to have to do all I can to make it as difficult for you as possible. And perhaps see to it that you go on your Way with a black Eye and maybe a pair of throbbing Bollocks for your Troubles.".

Tom had obviously lost his patience by then. His eyes had become slits when he spoke next. "Well, are you going to stand there talking about it all Day, Edward Kenway, or are you going to attend to your Task? Because Time waits for no Man…", he grinned after that "I've got People to see, Things to do.".

"Aye, that's right, and the longer you leave it the more Chance that poor Lassie has of sobering up, eh?".

"I don't mind telling you, I'm getting tired of all this Talk, Kenway.". Tom turned to Julien. "How about we teach this little Bastard a Lesson? Oh, and one more Thing before we start, Master Kenway,", he added, turning back to Edward "you ain't fit to shine your Mother's Shoes, you understand?".

Tom had hit the Jackpot. That one was a heavy blow to Edward. Others would dismiss it as unimportant, but Edward could not. Not when his own family life was as shitty as it was. Saying that his father did not treat his mother well would be an understatement, and the fact that Edward could not take care of her properly was a deep wound in his guts. And to think that it was that bloody mongrel who had driven that rusty knife in that wound and twisted it just to see how much it would hurt… That bastard was a _dead meat_.

Julien, being the most confident, took a fighting stance and swung his right fist towards Edward. Obviously he was either not as good as Edward thought, or he had underestimated the blond. Edward had noticed right away that his opponent was right handed. Edward pared the incoming fist with his left hand and drove his right one right into the man's throat, causing him to choke out air, saliva, alcohol, and a little bit of blood. A very violent strike, that had it had a little bit more force behind it, it would have killed the man. But Julien was still alive, and Edward could feel his heartbeat in his fingertips as he caught the unconscious man from the neck and threw him on a very surprised Tom, who was intending to sneak at Edward from the side. Obviously he did not expect Edward to notice him.

However Edward had fallen into the same trap, for as he did that, Seth had grabbed an empty bottle from somewhere and slammed it into Edward's head. Edward felt his head throb and his vision blurring, and he turned around to drive his left elbow in Seth's nose as retaliation. However, Seth was already one step away from Edward and he missed. At the same time, Tom had managed to get Julien off him and now he was trying to regain his balance. And as that was not enough, it was obvious that Julien had slowly started regaining his senses.

This was bad. _Very_ bad.

All Edward could now do was par the attacks and hope than he could land a lucky strike. At some point Julien had managed to land a blow underneath his chin, and then the worst thing possible happened. Seth tripped him. And he fell. The worst thing that could happen to you when you are outnumbered is fall. Once you fell it was over.

And in that exact moment, the lone rider arrived. Edward managed to take a look at her. Oh. _Her. Shit._ The rider was a woman, and obviously a lady of class. She was riding astride the horse, like a man, and not sidesaddle like it was the usual for women. That only showed confidence. And even through the kicks of the three that were now raining, he managed to form one thought. _"She is beautiful…"._

Too bad that beauty cannot save his life.

"Hey.", Edward heard her calling out. "You three Men. Stop what you're doing right now.".

The three of them reluctantly backed off, and he tried to get back on his feet, unable to stop his coughing. Now that the beating had stopped, Edward managed to take a batter look at her. She was young – perhaps a little older than him? – and while she was not high society, she was definitely raised in a rich household. No woman of her status was making trips with her horse alone. And Jeysus, she was twice as beautiful as he had first thought.

"We were just teaching this young Man here some Manners.", Tom excused himself, obviously out of breath. How exhausting it must be to kick a fallen man to death!

The young lady was not having any of that. "Well, it doesn't take three of you to do that, does it?", she retorted, sending a glare to the three men who now looked like little kids scolded by their parents. She got off the horse. "More to the Point, what are you doing with this young Lady here?". Wait, that drunk girl was _still_ here? What was she doing, that idiot, and had not run away yet!?

"Oh, Ma'am, this is a young Friend of ours who had too much to drink.".

The woman's posture darkened and her gaze turned into a death glare. Something the lad had said was the wrong thing to say. "She is most certainly not your young Friend, she is a Maidservant, and if I don't get her back Home before my Mother discovers she is absconded then she will be an _unemployed_ Maidservant.". Ooh, _now_ they were _doomed_. "I know you Men, and I think I know exactly what has been going on here. Now, you will leave this young Man alone and be on your Way before I am of a Mind to take this further.".

The threat was obviously very effective, for before he knew it, these guys were bowing, apologizing and fleeing. With them gone, the woman kneeled to the ground in front Edward. "My Name is Caroline Scott, my Family lives in Hawkins Lane in Bristol, let me take you back there and tend to your Wounds.".

A very generous offer that surprised Edward. Not many people of class would aid a peasant like him. "I cannot, my Lady", replied Edward with a grin, his mood greatly uplifted by the rescue and the politeness of the rescuer. "I have Work to do.", he said, managing to sit up. He had to act at least a bit dignified in front of a lady. No woman would be happy with a man who was acting like a dirty asshole.

She – Caroline – stood up. "I see. And did I assess the Situation correctly?".

Edward started to brush the dirt of his clothes. "You did, my Lady.".

"Then I owe you my Thanks and so will Rose when she sobers up. She is a willful Girl, not always the easiest of Staff, but nevertheless, I don't want to see her suffer for her Impetuousness.".

" _Gods."_ , decided Edward in his head. _"I was saved by an Angel."_. He finally got up, and he helped Caroline mount the still piss-drunk Rose, who was oblivious to the rest of the world. As Caroline would mount a sudden thought occurred to Edward and he blurted it before he could stop himself. "Can I see you again, my Lady? When I look a little more presentable, perhaps?".

She gave him a regretful look. "My Father would never approve.". And with that, she was off.

Edward Kenway at that moment knew that this would not be their last meeting.

* * *

 **Author notes: the majority of this chapter is taken directly from Edward Kenway's journal (you can find it in Black Flag, in one of the hacking missions). From the next chapter onwards things will start deviating from cannon - I hope not too much because I will end up stuck in a writer's block; AGAIN. Please review.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer : I do not own Assassin's Creed.  
**

* * *

 **Chapter III**

All Edward could think that night was her. Not his condemned future or the struggles of the world. Her.

How beautiful she was in the summer sun, with her red hair glistening in the light, and her peach colored skin giving off a healthy glow. How confident she had been, riding on her own the same way men do and stop that fight without doing as much as raise her voice. How kind she had been to him…

A horribly cliché line, but he had never met anyone like her. An angel had come to save him when he was at a pinch. Three drunkards had managed to corner him, honestly… Then again, he was quite drunk himself. _"I seriously need to cut down the Ale. Easier said than done."._

She was amazing. Everything about her was remarkable; he could tell from the first already meeting. She was not just a pretty face – though her beauty was plentiful. She was also confident and gentle, she had stood up in a situation when any other women of her status would have avoided like the plague, and she had shown kindness not only to her maidservant, but to him as well. Him, Edward Kenway, who had nothing but his parents, a cottage which was owned by his parents, and a few sheep. And a whole bunch of memories that were not his, but that would _never_ count.

One thing he knew: he would see her again. He felt like had to. But where could he find her? Wait; she had given him her address. Hawkins Lane in Bristol, right? All he had to do was go there and search for the gold target. It would not be hard; his Eagle Vision was much better than Altair or Ezio's – something Edward took pride in. He could climb through her window- no. She would not like that. A complete stranger climbing through her window in the middle of the night? He had not even given her his name!

Then during the day, perhaps? _"My Father would never approve."_. Right. Her father. If Edward did not want to get Caroline in trouble, he had to find her in a time when her parents would not be around. But that also meant he would have to find out who her parents _were_. And that could take a while.

Patience and information gathering. He could do that.

The next two or possibly three weeks were spent on precisely that task. Edward had his ears open for any word on the surname Scott, as he had not dared to venture around their house yet. However, all that time Edward heard nothing, and he did not want to start questioning people; a rumor mile was the last thing he needed. Also, summer was close to an end and it would not be long before his parents had finished their long-hours business outside Bristol. A visit to the Scott house seemed to be the only option left.

The next morning, instead of going to "The Auld Shillelagh", Edward went to Hawkins Lane. He had to go through this carefully. He put on mundane clothes – nothing attention catching – but he made sure that his shoes were suitable for climbing. He also took his hat with him – a passable substitute for the Assassin hood and much less suspicious during summer. And last but not least, his Hidden Blade.

It was not a true Assassin Hidden Blade. Edward had merely used a very thin knife and fixed some strings and wires inside a leather bracer he had made himself with the money he had saved. It was nowhere close to the quality of an original Hidden Blade, but it could be easily hidden under his sleeve and it answered just fine. He was certain that he would not need it, but better safe than sorry.

As soon as he was done with the preparations, he went to the road in front of "The Auld Shillelagh" where he had met Caroline for the first time. And after that, he closed his eyes and opened his senses.

Edward's Eagle Vision really was much better than Altair or Ezio's. Even with his eyes closed he could see through his eyelids. The sky had turned black like the dead of the night but starless, getting rid of all sunlight and thus any shadows that may prove a hindrance to noting the details. The noises became muted as if underwater, but they were as clear as a bell to his ears. All vegetation glowed yellow and green, the bushes around the road white – an indication for a hiding spot. Small animals that were unseen later where now visible at the edge of his hearing – most of the grey and see-through like ghosts, but there were a few that glowed red. The trees and bushes were no problem; he could see through them as he could see through walls – another advantage to his sixth sense.

But that was not enough; not yet. So he pushed further, deeper, where he could sense the spirit behind his Eagle Vision, the jackdaw **[1]**. Edward at first had not understood why his spirit animal had to be this dark little creature. But it was a sly bird that he loved, good at sneaking, stealing and searching, even though it looked unimportant at first glance – just like Edward himself. He could smell it now – the path that Caroline had followed, glowing golden. Edward opened his eyelids slowly and carefully, so he would not lose the trail. And after making sure that nobody was following him, he followed the path.

It was not long before he found himself in front of the house in Hawkins Lane – even without his Eagle Vision, it was a hard place to miss. And that was because it was not a house, it was a mansion. A beautiful, two floors white mansion, not too large but it showed wealth, with the chambers of the apparently few servants and the stables at the side in separate buildings. By all accounts, it was the kind of house a wealthy merchant would have.

Edward climbed up a nearby tree to hide himself and get a good view of the building. Climbing and free-running on threes was a skill Edward had taught himself. He had found out the hard way when he was a boy that doing so was completely different to climbing and free running buildings. All things made by man are more or less the same when it comes down to stability and the like. Every single tree branch is different.

Once on the tree, Edward dropped Eagle Vision, and rubbed his temples, hoping to get rid of his headache. He had never used his sense for such lengthy amounts of time before. Even the jackdaw in his head seemed to be exhausted, not that Edward could blame the poor bird. He just lied on the branch taking a break, and waiting until both he and the bird felt a little better.

Once he got the signal that _"Yes, you can use me again"_ , Edward gave another go in Eagle Vision to scan the building, unhindered by the walls. Inside the building he could see the various chests and closets glowing white, but he paid them no mind. Caroline was on the second floor, alone in her room, glowing gold as she was his target. There were a few more inside the house. The two servants were colored in the grey see-through of the people whose presence always was dismissed. The same could be said for the middle aged woman that was apparently Caroline's mother. She would not have any objections with her daughter accepting a proper thank you from Edward.

Edward was about to climb down the tree and meet Caroline when something in the edge of his Vision stopped him. A man had entered the house – and he was glowing a bright red. Edward stopped in the middle of the motion and examined the man carefully. He was dressed as wealthily as Caroline did, and had a proud bearing that showed that the man considered himself to be of a higher social class than he actually was. _"He must be Caroline's Father."_ , thought Edward. And then he picked something else on the man – an object that was glowing white somewhere on his person. Edward stared bewildered for a second; why would his Vision render a small object as important?

Edward shook his head and focused on the matter at hand: meeting Caroline. Her parents and a couple of servants seemed to be getting ready to go outside – no doubt in order to attend business. However Caroline was obviously not going anywhere. And neither was the maidservant he had tried to rescue the other day – Rose, was it? Perfect. All he had to do was wait until Caroline's parents were out of the house, and then he could properly thank the two women.

And perhaps, investigate the mysterious object that Mr. Scott was carrying on his person.

As it turned out, he had to wait for a whole hour until Caroline's parents were out. Edward could only scowl – how long does it take for a couple of people to put something appropriate on and go out? Even in Ezio's family, which was high class nobility with six members, in _formal_ meetings it did not need more than half an hour before everybody was ready; and that included the time that Maria needed to convince Federico to move his lazy ass.

Anyway. Time to meet Caroline.

Edward switched his position from the well-hidden tree branch to a bush very close to the front door, and waited for Rose to get close to it. It would not be proper for him to climb through Caroline's window, and Edward was sure he would get both himself and her in trouble should he approach any of the other servants. His patience was rewarded when ten minutes later the glowing white form of Rose approached the door. Edward dismissed his Vision – he knew that the glowing gold eyes looked a little creepy – got off his hiding spot and knocked the door, loudly enough so Rose would hear but not too much so not to alert the rest of the servants.

Rose seemed definitely surprised when the blond lad she vaguely remembered through her drunken stupor suddenly showed up on their doorstep. "Oh. Good Afternoon, Mr…?".

"Just Edward.", he replied. He took a deeper breath. "I came to properly thank Caroline.".

For some reason, as soon as she heard that, Rose smirked. "Just a Second.". And with that, she was off.

Edward blinked. "Okay…".

Seconds later, Rose was down the stairs with Caroline on her tail. She was even more beautiful than Edward remembered her, with her hair slightly messy and wearing an in-house robe. Caroline seemed to almost take a stunned step back as soon as she saw him. "You!- Oh. Good Afternoon.".

Edward could not help his smile; her surprised expression looked cute – wait, what? "I came to properly thank you, Miss Caroline.".

Said woman scoffed slightly as soon as she heard that. "Please, you can just call me Caroline. And what is your name?".

"Edward James Kenway. You can call me Edward.", he replied.

"Oh.", she blinked. "This is unusually… fancy.". Edward knew why she said that. Both Edward and James were usually names that were given to kings and princes. But there was more in it than Caroline possibly knew. Edward knew by the knowledge on the Old English that he had acquired from Altair and Maria that his first name meant "rich guard", James "the one who follows", and Kenway meant "royal war". **[2]**

"I know it's fancy.", he replied with a shrug.

An awkward second passed. "Both Rose and I thank you for Aid, Edward.", said Caroline. "I don't want to think what could've happened to Rose had she stayed with those Men.".

" _I_ thank you, Caroline", denied Edward. "Those Jerks could have killed me if they continued.".

"It was Nothing.", she replied embarrassed.

"I… should go.", said Edward, not understanding why he was so embarrassed by the woman's mere presence. Rose struggling to hide her giggles was decidedly _not_ helping. "I have Work to do, and I'm already late.".

"Goodbye, then.".

"Goodbye.".

And with that, Caroline retreated and Rose closed the door, but not before sparing him a wink. Seriously, what was _wrong_ with her!?

Edward shook his head and started walking away from the small mansion. It was true: he had to get home before his father- wait. Caroline's father. The mysterious white object.

The jackdaw in Edward's head was waving its wings up and down, jumping on the spot, trying to tell Edward that something was _off_ about the man. And Edward was not one to ignore his gut feeling. For some, reason, he was suddenly glad he had brought his Hidden Blade with him.

For a moment that seemed too long, Edward just sat under a tree close to Caroline's house having an inner debate. On the one hand he had a feeling that he should go after the man; this feeling of _offness_ was not something that could be shook off easily. On the other hand he – and who knows who else – could get in a lot of trouble if he was caught tailing a man. _"But you will not get caught."_ , said his jackdaw.

The bird was right. Edward _could not_ get caught.

If he could follow a three weeks old trail, he could definitely follow one that was not even half an hour long. For once again Edward dug deeper into his sixth sense and tracked the golden trail. But this time around it was not Caroline who was his target. It was Mr. Scott.

Edward hid on the trees and bushes, and followed the trail. The small path that Mr. Scott's carriage followed seemed to be united with the main road that was used by riders and carriages. Nothing unusual up until now. And more importantly, there was no-one in Sight.

Edward flew through the trees. The freedom of free running was something he cherished greatly. Run with small and fast steps on the tree brunch. Jump – catch yourself on the branch of the other tree. Play the monkey for one or two branches. Land on a third. Jump to the next one. Skip the tree trunk onto the next branch. Continue running.

It was amazing. The feeling of the wind on his heating face, the slight ache of the muscles, the lightness of his body as he made his way on the trees… If anyone was to see him right now, they would only catch something like a large shadow. Flying along with the wind.

After a while the trees became fewer and more sparse. Edward was forced to the ground. With a leap and a practiced roll that felt like second nature, Edward landed on the ground without as much as a scratch and brushed a little dirt off his clothing. He was just outside a small and busy merchant point out of Bristol – close enough to grand an easy access to the town, but far enough to be somewhat secluded. Edward felt a slight dread as soon as he saw the place; he knew it like the back of his hand, but only because his father used to take him here all the time. It was where his family traded their wools and dairy products. In other words, there was a very good chance his parents were here. Well, better be safe than sorry.

Edward found a high spot on a building and scanned the area with his Eagle Vision. No blue spots – good. That meant that his parents were not here. He would be in a lot of trouble once he got home, but this was not important. As for his target… there.

He once again dismissed his Eagle Vision and with a Leap of Faith Edward landed in a haystack, thankfully not attracting much attention. He got out of it, brushed any remaining hay off his clothes, and with satisfaction he noted that he could still see the yellow form of Mr. Scott, even through the countless walls. And that was _without_ his Eagle Vision.

Edward swiftly moved to the place where he had spotted the man, and saw that he had a conversation with some other rich bloke. He blended with a small crowd that was busy talking about the increasing prices of wools and fabric, and eavesdropped the conversation.

The other guy looked quite young – around his twenties – and that struck Edward as odd, especially considering the fact that it was the young one that was doing the scolding. "Listen here, Mr. Scott. It does not matter that you are older and wealthier than I; you have fallen from the Grandmaster's good Graces. So right now, it's _you_ who has to answer to me, not the other Way around.". The Grandmaster!? They could not possibly mean…

"The Grandmaster is way too hopeful with this Plan. What he needs in Order to achieve success in the West Indies is Anarchy, and with the War that now begins between our Crown and the Spanish, all Ships and Soldiers, as well as their comings and goings are carefully traced and recorded. And to make Matters worse, there are no People among the higher Ranks that he can trust!". A war!? What the hell are they talking about? **[3]**

"The Grandmaster said that all we be in due Time. What we need to do right now is get enough Privateers to work for the King.". Privateers?

"Do you truly believe that Something like that will work? Only a Fool could not see the Advantage of a competent Navy over a rowdy and inexperienced Row of… "legal" Pirates!".

"Yes, but the King doesn't have enough Men for that. Which is why he has no other Choice but to turn to the Privateers. And besides, there are some Gentlemen in the King's Council who consider this Option, and it is likely that he will approve.".

"But are they _our_ Gentlemen?".

"No, but that's not important. What we need _you_ to do right now is keep pressing Bristol. We will need as many of those "legal Pirates" around as we can get. And if you succeed, then slowly but surely, you will start to gain back the Grandmaster's good Graces.".

"I understand. But I still hope he would tell something more about his Plans to the Rest of us…". Apparently the young one was as clueless as Mr. Scott, for he had no answer to that pondering.

Once more – and hopefully for the last time today – Edward called upon his jackdaw. As he had half-expected, the other lad was glowing a bright red just like Mr. Scott had earlier that day, and had on his person a white glowing object as well. He then turned his gaze to Mr. Scott. Surely enough, the white object was still, there, and now that he was closer, he could see that it was a ring. Edward sharpened his eyesight – he could sense that the ring for some sort of reason was important. He took a more careful look to the piece of jewel that hanged from the man's left ring-finger. It was not his wedding ring, that was for sure.

Edward had to take a second look once he saw that ring. It was silver, with a red ruby cross on it. The Cross of the Templar Order.

* * *

 **Author notes : so now Edward knows that Emmet Scott is a Templar! I think I might actually have a plot for this fic! Do not just dismiss the young man Scott was talking to; he will appear later. I am telling you though, it will be a while before Edward gets to the West Indies. No more spoilers than that.  
**

 **[1] There are many fanfics in which the characters can unlock Eagle Vision thank to the spirit of an animal, and I like that concept.**

 **[2] You can find the meaning of Edward's name in the Assassin's Creed wikia. I found the rest of the information in a different website.**

 **[3] Please note that the war is not due to start for another year or more.**

 **Anyway, I hope anyone who is reading this reviews!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer : I do not own Assassin's Creed.  
**

* * *

 **Chapter** **IV**

In the end, the punishment – grounding inside the house for the next week – was the last thing that concerned Edward. No, the _real_ problem was that Mr. Scott was a Templar, and that the Templars had a plan.

A plan which apparently involved a war that had not even started yet **[1]**. The British and the Spanish Empires… Truth to be told, news on politics rarely reached Bristol. It was a moderately quiet place, away from the hustle and bustle of the larger cities, like London. So Edward could not imagine the reason why the two Empires would start a war. The King, unlike most of the men and women who previously had the throne, actually happened to have a head on his shoulders, and Edward was sure that the man could see that starting a war with the Spanish would lead to nothing. In other words, the Templars could not count on their influence on the King because the man would not start a war unless he had no other choice; he did not have the manpower for it. Besides, the Templars _did not have_ any influence on the King.

Did that mean that they had influence on the Spanish…? It was far from an unlikely scenario. If there was any heavy Templar influence on the Spanish Crown, considering all the strength that the Spanish Empire had started to gather, it would not take much to convince their King to start a war and establish his influence.

Should something like that happen, the British were doomed. Why would the Templars want the British Empire to fall? Wait _. "Yes, but the King doesn't have enough Men for that. Which is why he has no other Choice but to turn to the Privateers."._ The privateers: legal pirates to cover up the lack of manpower. Mr. Scott had said that in order to achieve the Templar plans they needed anarchy. In other words, the needed the King blind and deaf to the events during the war.

There were so many information missing… Where would the war take place and when? What were the ulterior motives behind their plan? Who was the Grandmaster? Who was the other bloke that was talking to Mr. Scott? And the most pressing issue – what did they mean, by saying "keep pressuring Bristol?".

No matter how you see it, all this meant trouble. And Edward could not afford to leave this mystery unresolved. His consciousness would not allow it.

* * *

Caroline could not sleep that night. All she could do was thinking about _him_. Edward. She certainly had not expected from the blond man to actually pay her a visit. Sure, she had told him where her house was, but to think he would actually come to see her…

This was not the first time Caroline would spend hours thinking about Edward. She just did not want to admit it. Something about him made her pause. Was it the heroics he had pulled I order to rescue Rose from those men? Was it his manner when he spoke to her? Or was it… something else? Edward had something different on him, something that made him stand out in her eyes. It was _his_ eyes.

Yes, that must be it. His blue eyes were even brighter than the sky, it seemed almost unnatural. Like he was older than he let on, and he was able to see things that other people were not able to. Something old, but not rotten, hidden by youthful looks.

Caroline shook her head. What she was thinking sounded like total nonsense. This was the reason why Rose had noticed her thoughts in the first place.

What she would not give to have five minutes with Edward…

* * *

What Caroline did not know was that Edward _was_ , as a matter of fact, inside her house. Inside her father's study, to be more precise.

Edward knew that under no circumstances should he get caught. From Emmet Scott's point of view – he had finally learned the man's first name – Edward would be an unknown Assassin searching through his documents. And the fact that Caroline knew him would make matters worse in such a scenario.

There were so many ways this could go wrong. If he ran into someone of the staff or Caroline, or even worse, the man himself… Even if Emmet Scott noticed that someone was in his study in the first place…

Edward did not want to think about it. Now he had to focus on the task in hand: search information on the Templar plot. Edward was going through letters and maps, hoping to find any clues about where the war would take place and when, the plans for Bristol, the names of other Templars – and especially the young man that Emmet Scott was talking to that morning – and perhaps even the name of the Grandmaster.

As he was methodically going through the documents, Edward discovered that Emmet Scott was quite obsessive with erasing all evidence about his not so legal activities. He could not find a word about the Templars anywhere. _"But that's quite reckless of him."_ , thought Edward. _"The Catch is what you_ haven't _erased."_. The documents that Emmet Scott had not erased were focused on business transactions, and through those, the Templar plot for Bristol – and, as it seemed, the rest of England as well – was more than obvious.

The lower ranking Templars, which were mostly merchants, would slowly take control of the economic activity in their respective regions and make the poor people even poorer. The perfect set-up to force the whole country's lads into privateering, in order to feed themselves.

As it turned out, Emmet Scott was either taking all orders from above orally, or burned all documents. If Edward wanted to keep an eye on the transactions between the Templars, he would have to find the messenger. And right now his best bet was the lad Emmet Scott was talking to that morning.

Edward sighed at the thought. All that crap would make the punishment of his parents even heavier and his own work even harder.

Had he activated his Eagle Vision, he would have noticed the book that was glowing white.

* * *

" _Edward is acting strangely today."_ , thought Bernard. Or more like: _"He had been acting strangely – well, stranger than usual – for four Weeks now."._ Something was bugging Edward, and that "something" was bigger than anything had concerned him in the past. So Bernard had given the lad the task of keeping an eye on the cart where the family was holding their trade, hopefully giving Edward some time to think.

Edward was not looking at the cart at all. He had his hat downcast, to hide his eyes that had turned golden, and he was scanning the crowds for a spot of gold – the man who was talking to Emmet Scott the previous day.

Edward knew that this task would be a tricky one. He did not even know if the man was here in the first place! And even if he found him, how could he know that tailing him would directly lead to evidence? Most probably it would not. But Edward would have yet another name and location to add to his newly founded list. The more information he had the better.

Right now his sixth sense was not detecting much. The blue glow of his parents and the single horse of their cart, and all other people were the typical see-through grey, plus a few white spots that indicated hiding places. Edward had started growing tired of this. He had been searching for his target for two hours now. He was about to quit it.

And he saw two new blue spots. He turned his neck towards that direction, so quickly that he felt his neck crack. And he even had to double-check to make sure of what he saw. Caroline and the maidservant, Rose. That meant… Yes, the red spot of Emmet Scott was merely two meters away from the girls.

Edward considered his options. If Emmet Scott was here there was a good chance to find the other man as well. So should he focus on Emmet Scott? Or finding the other man was a priority? And what about Caroline? Should he go and see her?

Edward had gone through Emmet Scott's files one week ago. However he did not know if there was any change since then – he was not able to go out and gather information. He decided to do just that.

He slowly walked away from the cart and started blending with nearby crowds, listening to their conversations. Most were about private stuff – a wedding or a birth or, more oftenly that he would like, a death of some friend or family member. Work and gossip about the boys and girls in each house – nothing different than what he would hear at "The Auld Shillelagh". He moved further. Any clue of changes in the demands of the merchants, but the complaints were the usual. Nothing had changed. Not surprising.

Finding the young Templar it was.

But how could he find information without tailing the man to his house? He could live anywhere!

Edward face-palmed as soon as the thought occurred to him. Of course. Caroline. He could ask her. She ought to know something about her father's activities. Problem was, said father was but six feet away from her. No matter. He could approach her.

Edward blended with the crowds easily as he made his way to the place where Caroline was, Emmet, as expected, had his back turned to his daughter and was busy talking to another merchant. Edward did not bother eavesdropping that conversation – he knew who the other man was and he was not involved in anything suspicious. Instead he hid behind the building, and once Caroline was close enough, he let a whistle.

It worked like a spell, as always. Caroline and Rose exchanged a look and carefully approached the spot behind the building where Edward was. He, confident that he would remain undetected, moved a step from the corner. Right into Caroline's face.

"ED-Edward! What are you doing here?". The man in question let an inner sigh of relief. That was close.

"My Parents are trading here and they dragged me along. Needed an extra Hand in carrying all the Staff. How come _you_ are here today?".

Caroline let a sigh herself, though that one was a long-suffering sigh. "My Father sometimes is taking me with him in his Work in Hopes of finding Someone to engage me to.". Edward felt his eyebrows raise at that. It was not the answer he expected. "I am already nineteen. Normally a Woman from my Class should already be married.".

"And you don't have any Say in this?", he asked incredulously.

"None at all. My Life has already been planned out for me.".

She did not seem to want to share any more details on the subject, but to Edward this was just the lead he needed. He hated himself for doing this to her, but… "What is the Problem? Any of those Lads rubbing you the wrong Way?".

"Why, are you going to pick a Fight with them?", she asked with a small smirk.

Edward let out a small, surprised chuckle. "Nope.", he replied with a grin. How was it that Caroline could make him feel so relaxed?

"I haven't met most of my potential Husbands.", she said. "But yes, Some of those that I've met _are_ rubbing me the wrong Way.".

"Why, are they too old or Something?".

"No, it's just…". She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. Edward felt a sudden pang of sympathy for her. "I didn't even know those People. Not as in, I've heard of them but never met them. All of the sudden my Father would introduce me to this or another Man I haven't even heard of, like he doesn't want Anyone to know that they know them or Something.".

"Anyone who particularly stands out?".

Caroline shot him a strange look. "Why are you asking?".

Edward examined his feet uncomfortably. He did not want to lie to Caroline, but he could not tell her the whole truth either. "I'm concerned that some rich Blokes in the surrounding Area may start causing Problems.", he said, and he could _feel_ Caroline's surprised look. He felt the need to explain. "I had overheard a strange Conversation between some rich Merchants a while ago and it doesn't bode well with me… Or Anyone, for that Matter. Believe me Caroline, they are planning something bad. _Really_ bad.".

Caroline was searching him, he knew. "Is my Father involved in this?".

Edward took a deep breath. "…Yes.".

Her face turned skeptical. "Actually that explains quite a Lot…", she muttered. That had Edward's immediate attention. "The Relationships between my Father and some other Gentlemen have became strained as of late… And None of those Gentlemen are People my Father has ever talked about, even though our Trading with them is our main Source of Income… At least, that's what I think. He does assign various Documents to me to manage, but he would never allow me to touch the Documents on specific People. And those People are the ones Father introduces me to…".

Edward could tell that Caroline had become really uncomfortable. "Sorry for bothering you like this. I guess this isn't my Business after all…".

"No!". Edward stared at her. "I mean…", was that a _blush_? "Thank you for hearing me out. It's nice having Someone else than Rose to talk to.".

Edward felt himself blush as well. "You're welcome. I- I should go.".

"I will help you, if you need Anything else…".

"Thank you, Caroline. Really.". And he meant it.

"Goodbye.".

"Goodbye.".

And Edward left.

In the end, he did not find the young Templar he was looking for. But now he knew something else. Emmet Scott had messed up big time in the Templar Order. And he was planning to betroth his daughter to one of them to make it up. There was no way Edward lets Caroline suffer in the hands of one of those bastards. Never.

* * *

 **Author notes : I am back! Sorry for the late update. I did not have access to the Internet for a month. However I have writted all chapters of this fanfic up to number twelve, and I have plans for chapter thirteen.**

 **[1] I have no idea whether I am historically accurate here or not. We do not study the history between the 15th and 19th century in my country because we were taken over by the Ottomans. Other than that, nothing big happened. (sarcasm) Just remember that there are chances you see a large number of chapters edited at some point.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer : I do not own Assassin's Creed.  
**

* * *

 **Chapter** **V**

 _Green. Green everywhere. The forest during the passing of the cold season to the warm. This was its colour. Rich. Endless. Except one spot. A building. Whiter than the snow. That was their target._

 _They had to be fast. They_ were _fast._

 _They moved in unity. They ran through the front door. No-one in sight._ They **[1]** _did not need any guards._ They _controlled_ everything _._

 _They jumped together. His own breath had become shallow. His heart was beating faster. So did hers. But they did not run any slower. They could not run any slower._

 _Through the glass panel. It broke. Someone will notice it. They had to take it. Now._

 _They were here. Their brothers and sisters were trapped here. Working. Sweating. Building. They did not know what they were building. They did not know_ anything _._

 _They would change that. They_ had _to. But not now. Now they had to run. To get out of there. No time to lose._

" _We have it, Adam!"._

 _No. Too early for that. They were still running. They were still escaping. Too dangerous. "EVA!"._ **[2]** _  
_

Edward jumped off the bed, covered in sweat and his breathing was heavy. That dream… He laid on his back, staring at the ceiling, trying to catch his breath. This had always been the one memory he could not understand.

Other than Altair and Ezio, Edward had hard time accessing the memories of his other ancestors. They did not have Eagle Vision. They did not have enough Precursor Blood. He could recall the memories of their children up to a certain extent, but it was vague.

But this… _This_ was different. The man he was following in those memories was _strong_. He had more Precursor blood than _any_ of his ancestors. But the memories were simply so old…

Edward sunk into the feeling of defeat that always followed that particular memory. For years, ever since he was just old enough to understand that what he was seeing was not his imagination, he had been struggling, to finally tell apart fantasy from reality. He had to wake up in the mornings and remind himself who he was. He was afraid because the others would tell him that it was a curse, a sickness in his head. He was afraid because his parents were afraid. He was afraid because he would see ghosts and shadows and his eyes would play all sorts of strange tricks that he could not control.

The only way out of that identity crisis was to fight. So he shut his mouth and never spoke about what he was suffering from to absolutely no-one. Instead, he started throwing knives at a wall to vent his frustration. He focused on finding out what he could do and what he could not do.

He had started experimenting. With knives, with fists, with weapons and especially with his Sight. And finally he had found it. The point where he and his ancestors differed.

The spirit of _their_ Eagle Vision was – as the name indicated – an eagle. Edward's was a jackdaw. And this jackdaw – that dark, little and sly creature – helped him sort out everything. It helped him separate the two people from each other and from himself, and allowed Edward to become his own person.

However, that _third_ ancestor confused Edward. He could only see the memories of the man in his dreams, and he could not remember them later. All he could recall was flashes of green, blue, white and gold, a building (?) and emotions. Action and confusion. As if the man who was experiencing that himself could not understand why he was doing what he was doing. What _they_ were doing. There was a woman with him, wasn't there? The man was _always_ with her. She was the only one who was there.

His jackdaw was telling Edward that this was the beginning. The beginning of what, he did not know.

After he had calmed his breath, Edward sat up and tried to collect his thoughts. Why did he see that dream? And why now? The dream in general made no sense. A man and a woman, running into a building, apparently taking something from there, and then getting out as fast as they could.

The man was so worried about the woman he was following. It was obvious. And the man also wanted answers. Edward could relate to that feeling. He too wanted answers. And he too was worried about a woman: Caroline.

God, Caroline… Edward was entranced by her. Her beauty, will, kindness, confidence, honesty… She was one of the kind. There was nobody else out there like her – he was _sure_ of it. And what did she receive in exchange for all those noble qualities? A strict Templar of a father who wanted to marry her to another one, and only one person to talk to – and Rose could not do anything because she was a maidservant.

He wished he could do something to change that. He truly did. Normally Edward would not meddle in the personal affairs of the rich but in Caroline's case, he felt like he had to. Unless he helped, Caroline would be forced to marry a Templar, and for her that would be disastrous. Besides, if Emmet Scott sought to marry his daughter in order to avoid more problems within the Order, there was simply no way that future husband considered Caroline as anything more that a prize.

No man or woman deserved to be treated as an object.

Now that he thought about it, the young Templar Emmet Scott was talking to was awfully close to Caroline's age… _"Oh Shit."_.

Emmet Scott's documents _had_ given Edward a few names, but as Caroline had said, the man would not allow access to the documents of his Templar associates. In other words, now Edward had no other choice but to find the mystery lad.

Back to the trading spot it was.

* * *

Bernard did not know what exactly to make out of his son's new-found habit to disappear at the most impossible hours and moments. He had to admit though; the lad had a true gift for hiding in plain sights. Or something more than just a gift.

He would soon have to make Edward to tell him what exactly the issue was. And that was because Bernard had a feeling that this time around there was no running away from trouble.

He just hoped that Edward had realized that.

Until then…

After he made sure that Edward had left the house, he went to the stables where the family held the sheep. As expected, all of them were sleeping. He would have to make sure that none of them woke up. If one did then all of them did. He also noticed something else: the horse was missing. The man shook his head.

Carefully avoiding stepping on any wool, Bernard made his way to the other side of the stables, where the water pot for the animals was. Carefully, he removed it, and cleared the soil. Underneath it, there was a wooden trap door with a box underneath.

Bernard removed the old key from his neck and reached to unlock it. He internally winced at the rusty sound, but he could not say he was surprised by that. It had been years since that box had last been opened.

Bernard, with outmost care, removed the thin package inside the box.

If Edward was about to get into trouble, he was going to need this. **[3]**

* * *

For the first time ever Caroline decided to disobey her father.

Not even Rose could change her mind right now. Something had to be done about her father.

Edward's admission that he was spying on her father and his business associates was the last straw she needed. Having strict rules in the household was one thing; keeping secrets that would affect not only the family, but _the entire region_ was another one.

Caroline of course knew what she was looking for: anything that her father would not let her see on her potential husbands. Anything that would help Edward on his research. She did not know what a sheep shepherd could do, but if there was someone who could change things, it was Edward. He _knew_ what he was doing; she had no doubt of that.

The biggest problem right now was the chance of Caroline being spotted by someone. Thankfully, the house was mostly empty at this hour of the night, but _anyone_ could be up. She had to be quick about this.

Instead of searching her father's study for documents, Caroline checked the study itself.

If one did not know the house inside-out, they would never notice it. But Caroline did know the house and to her the "small detail" was obvious – the rooms and the space did not add up. The only possible explanation was that there was a secret room somewhere. And the only way to get in it was though the study.

" _Had I been my Father and were trying to hide Something, where would I hide it?"_. A special book in the bookcase. Something that looked expensive enough so none would touch it, but it would not stand out in the bookcase.

Caroline headed towards the general direction where she suspected that the secret room was. The selves of the bookcase here did not seem to be anything out of the ordinary. However, looks could be deceiving. That was an advice she had heard from her mother on numerous occasions. She started browsing through the books that were about her eye-level, knowing that her father would not bother moving chairs and furniture in order to open a switch.

Her eye caught something. One of the books did not fit in the library. Sure, it was a history book just like everything else in here. But this one did not have a title.

Caroline did not want to take any chances, so she examined the book more closely. It was leather-bound and its back had an engraved cross in it. Something about that cross was very familiar, but she could not quite place it. Then it struck her; it was the same exactly cross her father's ring had. If that was not the book that opened the door to the secret room, she did not know _what_ it could be.

Making a guess, she removed the book from the self. Sure enough, there was a key underneath it – silver with a red cross, just like her father's ring. _"But I still haven't found the secret Door."_. Caroline debated on what she should do next. Should she continue searching? No- not while her father is in the house. Should she take the key with her? She abandoned that idea as well. Who said that her father would not go looking for it? Besides, it would be relatively easy to find in her room. It was such an odd-looking thing with that red cross on it…

Wait. She had seen that cross before. And it was _not_ on her father's ring. What did that cross mean in the first place? An idea forming in her head, Caroline placed the key back where it was, making sure it was the exact spot. Then she placed the book with the same care back in place.

Finding out what did the cross mean sounded like a very good place to start her research.

* * *

Edward was hoping that the stolen horse would not give him away. He was regretting the decision more and more. Technically, the horse was not _stolen_ , but if his father woke up while the horse was still missing, Edward would be in _big_ trouble. He did not want him to know about his shenanigans. Of course, the horse could return to the stables on its own – that was what all horses did – but still…

He should have gone on foot. Too late to change that decision.

Edward was finally here. This was the second time he had sneaked from his house to follow a Templar, but this time it was different. Edward knew where to find Emmet Scott. That man, he did not.

Hence the reason why he was at the trading post in the middle of the night. This place was full with all kinds of folks in this hour – and those folks were _not_ of the honorable lot. He really regretted bringing the horse here.

He dismounted and then debated on whether he should keep it or not. If he let it here there was a good chance someone would steal it. But he did need the ride back home, so sending it back to the stables was not an option. And besides, the man he was looking for could live anywhere. In the end he kept the horse.

Edward closed his eyes and opened his senses, calling upon his jackdaw. When he opened them, the world was not quite as dark. Edward preferred his Eagle Vision to his normal one during night-time; it allowed him to see all the details clearly. He could even _read_ in absolute dark. And sure enough, the golden trail he was looking for was right there.

Edward climbed on a chimney above the trees hoping to catch a better view of the trail. He let a whistle; even from here he could not see the end of it. And to reach the point up to which he _could_ see, it would take at least a day.

Should he go? Or not? In the end he decided not to do it. He needed a bit more preparation before he could go to such a trip.

With a Leap of Faith, he dove into the haystack bellow. And after he got out, he saw that the horse was missing.

Edward felt a pang of irritation. He was _not_ in the mood to handle thieves. Let alone that those thieves were so crappy. It did not even take half a minute to find them.

Edward silently approached behind the first guy and with his left hand he grabbed him from the stomach while he used the right to close his mouth and nose. By adding pressure the first thief was unconscious in seconds. He then proceeded to do the same with the second man. After that he climbed on the horse and urged it to go home. Time to get some sleep.

Edward never knew he was being watched.

* * *

"What the Hell is _Kenway_ doing here?".

"Beats me. Bet he came looking for a Fight.".

"Then we better give it to him. There aren't any pretty Ladies to get in the Way now.".

"You Idiots! He doesn't know we're here!".

"Then what do we do?".

"We keep an Eye on him?".

"You're sure?".

"Aye.".

By the time they were done with their conversation, Edward was already specs of dust in the wind. **[4]**

* * *

 **Author notes**

 **[1] He refers to the Ones who Came Before, the Precursors, call them whatever you like.**

 **[2] Yes. it's the infamous scene from Clay's memories in which Adam and Eva steal the Apple of Eden.**

 **[3] I have special plans for Bernard Kenway. Just remember that you'll be seeing a lot of him in future chapters.**

 **[4] I think that the identity of the three people talking is obvious. Do not dismiss them. Their role in my plot will be revealed much later on.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer : I do not own Assassin's Creed.  
**

* * *

 **Chapter** **VI**

If there was one visitor Bernard Kenway did not expect to find on his doorstep in the morning, that was Caroline Scott.

"Good Morning, Mr. Kenway, I presume?", she greeted, her tone polite.

"Aye.", he replied, trying to mask his surprise. "What do we owe the visit to, Miss Scott?".

If Caroline was surprised that the man in front of her knew her name, she did not show it. "I was looking for Edward, actually. I was told he lives here.".

"He's not here right now.". It was true; Edward was with his mother at the town market right now.

"Oh.". She seemed very hesitant. "I'm sorry to bother you, Sir.", she apologized.

Bernard raised an eyebrow at her. He did not expect an honest apology as an answer. "Why are you looking for him?", he asked her.

"I need to ask him Something I hope he has the answer to.".

Bernard gave her a searching look. After a moment too long, he finally said: "Come in, Lass.". And he made way for her to come in, ignoring her hesitation. She took a deep breath and walked into the house.

* * *

Caroline did not expect to receive such a greeting when she knocked the door of the Kenway household.

The morning after she had gone looking for the secret room in her house, Caroline, after making sure that her parents were not in the house, she had dragged Rose – though she had definitely been more willing to follow after she had learned who they were visiting – and went to the tavern where she had first met Edward. After she had sent in Rose to find out where his house was, they headed towards the location and she made Rose wait in the stables.

She was hoping that the one who opens the door would be Edward. She did not think that it would be his father.

Mr. Kenway was odd. He was tall and somewhat muscular even though his trade did not require any muscle at all. His hair was brown in blond in colour but darker that Edward's and it had started graying, giving a strange result. His eyes were a strange shade of something between blue and green, that Caroline could not quite place. It was like the colour of a _lake_ ; its shade was different depending on the light and the angle. He carried himself in a proud way, totally different from what she had seen by other people of his class. It reminded her of the way her father held herself when he was trying to look richer that he was – but Mr. Kenway really gave off a noble air that did not need to be faked at all. Caroline felt like she was standing in front of a lord.

And what was more, he did not question how she knew Edward. It was like he already knew that. He was looking for something else; and that sent shivers up to Caroline's spine. Now she knew where Edward had gotten that old, searching and knowing look in his eyes; it was from his father.

She walked into their house. Caroline had never been at the house of anyone of a lower social class than herself before, so she was quite curious to see how it looked like.

It was spacious, she thought. Nowhere as big as her own house, but it gave a comfortable feeling that her own house did not have. Not too big, not too small. It was nice.

Mr. Kenway motioned her to sit. She obeyed without a word.

"So,", started Mr. Kenway after they were both seated "what did you want to ask my Son about?".

Caroline was hesitant. Should she tell him or not? Was that man inside the whole business her own father was involved in? Did he know anything in the first place? Would Edward get into trouble for her asking?

She decided to take the risk. She took out a sheet on paper on which she had copied the red cross and showed it to Mr. Kenway. "I was wondering what this Cross symbolizes. I was hoping he knew.".

Mr. Kenway stared at the cross for a long time. His expression was unreadable. Caroline feared for a moment that she would not get an answer.

"I can't tell you what this is directly…", started the man, and Caroline felt disappointment down at her "but I can tell you where to find it.".

 _That_ caught her attention. "What do you mean?".

"Go look at a History Book.", he replied. "Twelfth to thirteenth Century. If you have any more Questions, you can ask Edward.".

Caroline could only stare dumbfounded. "A _History Book_?".

"Aye.". He said that with such a certainty that Caroline did not doubt him for a second.

"Thank you, Sir.", she finally said.

"You can call me Bernard.".

"I should go.". Caroline got up and headed to the door.

"Do you want me to tell Edward that you visited?", asked her Mr. Bernard.

Caroline thought about it for a second. "No.", she said.

When Caroline was next to the door Mr. Bernard called out to her. "Oh, and Miss Scott?".

"Yes?", she asked.

Mr. Bernard looked at her straight in the eye. "If you ever want to find Something Hidden, ask Edward. He can find _Anything_.".

* * *

Bernard stared at the door for a while after Caroline Scott left. His eyes fell on the spot where he had the package hidden. " _I'll have to give this to Edward sooner that I hoped."_. But it was too late to back down now.

Next time Edward was up and running in the middle of the night, he was giving it to him.

* * *

"So, was he there?", asked Rose excited.

"No.", replied Caroline disappointed. Rose's face fell. "But his Father was.".

At that Rose blinked in surprise. "Oh. What did he say?".

Caroline looked troubled. "He told me to look at a History Book.".

Rose's voice was full of disbelief. "A History Book? Really? Does he think we'll find Answers there?".

"Obviously he does. Anyway, I hope he's right. And besides, I can't just start asking around for Stuff like that. Better I find out Something on my own.".

"You're right.", said Rose, admitting defeat.

* * *

Edward had seriously started questioning whether following the young Templar or not was a good idea or not. He had not even _started_ following the man and the possibility of finding him was becoming thinner and thinner.

Edward did not know where did the man come from, but he knew that it was quite far away. So far away in fact, that Edward could not sneak out of his house and follow the trail, as he usually did. It would take _days_ to reach the Templar's final destination. Heck, he might not even be in the _country_ right now! There was a good chance of that scenario; especially if the lad was high enough in the ranks to have an insight to the Grandmaster's plot.

Edward was pretty sure that the Templar Grandmaster was someone with high authority in the Spanish Government. A powerful Spanish man with enough influence to the Spanish Crown to convince their King to start a war. The more he thought about it the more sense it made. There was no way the Templars could achieve their plans otherwise. Hence Edward's suspicion that the man he was looking for was not even in the country.

From the other hand, there was also a good chance Caroline becomes engaged to the man. If that was the case, then that Templar would still be in England, so he can receive news from Bristol at any given time. In fact, he should be close enough to Bristol so that it would not appear strange that he was trading with Emmet Scott.

However that did not change the problem of distance. Edward was confident that he could find the trail – it was only a week and a couple of days old – but where would that trail lead him? What should he do once he reaches his destination? Edward had no idea.

The only thing he could say for sure was that he could not go unarmed. And his pseudo-Hidden Blade did _not_ count as a real weapon. He needed something better. A sword, for example. Only that in this era people did not use the broadswords Altair and Ezio were so fond of; they were using the cutlass.

Edward thought that the cutlass was an interesting weapon. They were just a little broader than a French rapier – and God, if _those_ were not tricky! – with a slightly curved edge like a Chinese sword, as the one Sao Jun was using. The guard and the hilt was certainly something to pay attention to. The guard could protect the user's hand from being chopped off, but Edward feared that it could hinder the weapon's maneuverability. And as if the weapon itself being tricky was not enough, Edward had never actually gotten his hands on a cutlass.

Last, but not least, Edward had his family to worry about. Sure, it was a problematic one. But they needed him. Summer was close to an end and there was a whole bunch of different things they had to do during the fall in order to prepare for the winter.

No matter what the case, Edward could not just leave yet – if he _could_ leave in the first place. Not without a word to his parents. Not without saying anything to Caroline.

* * *

Caroline decided to follow Mr. Bernard's advice and returned home to do some research. The historical time period in her mind was quite striking and she remembered it from her classes when she was younger; the twelfth and thirteenth century were the peak and fall of the Crusades respectively. But why would Mr. Bernard tell her to look up _the Crusades_? That almost felt like ancient history. Not as ancient as some countries claim they have, but still.

And yet, this was the best lead that Caroline had right now. Or more like, the _only_ lead. She would better follow it. Otherwise, she would never get any answers.

Fortunately, the bookcase in her father's study was not the _only_ bookcase in the house. It was not long before Caroline was in her bedroom with the book she needed in hand. She thought about it for a moment and then she turned the page straight to the chapter about the Knightly Orders. There were more chances she finds the cross there than anywhere else.

After a while, Caroline started thinking that she would never find what she needed. The Orders in the book seemed to have been listed randomly, and as if that was not enough, there were no paintings in the book and therefore she could not make a comparison between them and the painting of the red cross. Caroline had to read the description of every single crest separately and then double-check it because the author's writing character was almost too calligraphic to be legible.

 _At this Rate, I'll have to reach the End before I find it!_ , thought Caroline in a foul mood.

Imagine her surprise when she was proven correct.

The letters here were even smaller and they were more _messy_ that calligraphic. Caroline could not help but notice that the pattern of the hand-written book had become greatly uneven: in most places the author seemed to be trying avoiding to touch the paper while some other lines were so deep that they had _ripped through_ it. It was as if the author was afraid of writing. Or more than likely, afraid of what he was writing of.

Caroline had her curiosity peaked. She leaned closer, and started reading carefully.

" _No Other Knightly Order can gloat to have a Legacy as glorious and yet as gory as the Knights of the Templar Order, with their Blood-red Cross which is said to be painted crimson with the Blood they have spilled."_. All the rest of the text, written in a noticeably more composed but still quite upset style, was historical information and details. The name of their most famous Grandmaster (Robert de Sable), the various Popes they had managed to nurture – quite a few of them – and the rules of the Order. **[1]**

However it was the details that caught Caroline's attention. An invasion to a fortress that was never mentioned anywhere before, members who were not even Christians to begin with, out of the blue murders among their ranks and strange activity in the Byzantine Empire? And as if all that was not enough, they just _vanished_ was very suspicious.

What were the Knights of the Templar Order fighting for if not for God? Why did they seek so much power?

She could not understand. According to the author, the blood-red cross was the symbol of the Knights of the Templar Order – the same symbol that her father was carrying. But what in the world did her father and the other rich merchants he was trading with had to do with a bloodthirsty Knightly Order of the Crusades?

 _What if they aren't gone?_ The thought froze Caroline. She did not know why she thought of that – but now that it did, it could not leave her mind.

 _What if they aren't gone?_

* * *

 **Author notes: This is it for today. I will update the other chapters from tomorrow onwards. Please review!  
**

 **[1] Google it. You will find everything in Wikipedia.**


	7. Author note

p style="text-align: center;"span style="text-decoration: underline;"strongVery Important author announcement/strong/span/p  
p style="text-align: center;"strongI am bringing this story /strong/p  
p style="text-align: center;"strongAlmost no-one had bothered to even take a look at the first chapter, and in the second chapter there were even less readers./strong/p  
p style="text-align: center;"strongI am verry disappointed by that. I expected much more./strong/p  
p style="text-align: center;"strongI will update this fanfic again, with edited chapters in order to fit historocal facts. The title will more likely be the same./strong/p  
p style="text-align: center;"strongHowever do not expect to see my fanfic again any time soon./strong/p  
p style="text-align: center;"strongMy apologies for the disappointment, in any./strong/p  
p style="text-align: center;"strongThe fanfic will be brought down in a week from this update./strong/p  
p style="text-align: center;"strongHowever, if I get a review or more favs/likes withing that time, I will reconsider./strong/p  
p style="text-align: center;"strongThanks to everyone who favored or followed "The Seeker"./strong/p  
p style="text-align: center;"strongHelenTheMoon/strong/p 


	8. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer : I do not own Assassin's Creed.  
**

* * *

 **Chapter** **VII**

Emmet Scott could feel his irritation rising. For the last few months everything seemed to go downhill. Not only did he lose his rank within the Templar Order, but now Lloyd Williams thought that he had the right to order him around. _Him_ , Lloyd Edmund Williams, commanding _him_ , Emmet Scott, while he was at least twenty years younger? That was outrageous! But the problems with that man merely started there. Now, that young man demanded from Emmet to give him his daughter as a bride so that he could retain his rank.

A tempting offer, he had to admit.

Emmet was always intending to marry his daughter to one of his fellow Templars anyway. There was no other way around it. They were Templars! They could not have loose ends in their power here and there. And most certainly not in the form of a daughter who soon would too old to be married. And everything right now pointed to one possible future: Caroline being betrothed to Lloyd Williams.

Well, nothing bad could come from that, could it? He would restore his rank in the Templar Order, as well as bring more fortune to the house. And as an extra bonus, he would no longer be a laughing stock because his daughter remained unmarried for so long.

Now that he thought about it, Caroline seemed to be somewhat avoiding him as of late… Oh, well. No matter.

Emmet Scott never realized that he said all that out loud.

* * *

Caroline heard everything. Every single word.

She had met the man her father was talking about. Lloyd Edmund Williams – a young merchant around her age whom she had only met once. And as if to confirm her suspicion, her father had just said that he was involved in the same exactly shady business that he himself was involved in. The Knights of the Templar Order.

" _So they_ do _exist."_.She could only wonder. Did Edward know about all this? His father definitely seemed to; he was the one who told her where to look it up in the first place. But what did all this mean? What were the Templars fighting for? What did they want?

Caroline was scared. She was worried about Edward. This whole mess was bigger than she thought and apparently it was bigger than Edward seemed to think it was. She had to warn him as soon as possible. Find him and tell him everything she knew. Perhaps demand more information from Mr. Bernard. Find where that secret room is.

What should she do first?

"Miss. Caroline?", said a very familiar voice.

"Rose!", she exclaimed surprised. "I didn't expect you here.".

"I saw you were troubled.", she stated.

Caroline did not deny it. "I learned some troublesome Information about the "Trouble" that my Father and his Associates are preparing. Mr. Bernard definitely knows what's going on, I'm sure of it, but what about Edward? And… there is Something else.".

"What?", asked Rose concerned.

"My Father wants to betroth me.".

"Caroline, that's a-".

"To one of his Associates.".

Rose froze. "Does Edward know of this?".

"No. I'm not supposed to know either. I've just overheard him saying it.".

"And what are you going to do?".

Caroline remained silent, thinking about it. "There is a secret Room connected to my Father's Study.", she stated. Rose's eyebrows rose. "I haven't found where its Entrance is yet. But I know where he hides the Key.".

Rose looked skeptical. "I think you should see Edward first. Master Scott will be missing for a Couple of Days, right? You can go find him then.".

"But _where_? I know where he lives but I haven't the slightest Idea where he spends his Time!".

Rose beamed. "Two Steps ahead of you!".

"Excuse me?", asked Caroline bewildered.

"I asked the Barman in "Auld Shillelagh" if Edward is a regular there. And… he spends there every Evening! We can go see him Tomorrow!".

"You can't be serious!". Caroline could only stare at Rose. "My mother will be here! I can't just _sneak outside_!".

"Don't worry, it'll be fine! Take it as a Chance to go out with Edward!".

" _Rose_!". Rose's grin was relentless. " _Fine_.", said Caroline. "You win. But, we'll go _tomorrow_. It's already late.".

"Yes, m'Lady.".

Rose practically danced outside the room and Caroline shook her head. She was going to regret this…

* * *

Edward entered the "Auld Shillelagh". He sent a glance to the customers out of habit. He paused. He checked again, this time more carefully. He blinked once. He blinked twice. But no, his eyes did not play any tricks to him. It really was Caroline.

For a moment he was just staring stupefied. What in the world was Caroline doing here?

"Edward!", a female voice yelled. It was Rose. She must have dragged Caroline with her, there was no other explanation.

Edward jogged towards them. "Caroline, what are you-". _Oh. My. God._ Caroline was wearing a sleeveless emerald green dress with a deep neckline that was a tad bit too revealing for a lady of her class, and he could tell that she was not wearing a corset. She had put on a little gloss on the lips and smoke on her eyelids, along with a bit of rouge on her cheeks; just the right amount and God, she looked _hot_. Edward could feel his eyes widen at the sight of her.

"Oh. Um, hi.". _"Jeysus, this is awkward."._

"Hi.", responded Caroline just as awkwardly. She had noticed how Edward was staring at her. She knew she would turn a few heads around being dressed like _that_ , but still… She should not have listened to Rose.

And speaking of Rose, judging by her winning smile, she took Edward's look as a victory.

"So… What brings you to "The Auld Shillelagh", my Lady?", he asked, trying to figure out what was going on.

"She was in desperate Need for an Exit.", piped Rose.

" _Rose_!", protested Caroline. She shook her head. "My Apologies about the Outfit. It was Rose's idea. Anyway, I need to talk to you.".

Edward raised an eyebrow at that, and then he turned to examine the tavern. Their tiny group had attracted a lot of attention already. "Somewhere a bit more private?", he asked.

"Sure.", replied Caroline, already eager to escape the lustful gazes of some of the men in there.

"I'm staying in Here!", announced Rose, having already ordered a third drink.

Edward led Caroline outside the Tavern and motioned to sit on a bench. "But… That's right next to the Wall.", said Caroline. "Shouldn't we go somewhere more quiet?".

"This is the perfect Spot for private Conversations, Caroline. There's so much Noise in there that even if some Blokes stick their Ears to the Wall they won't be able to hear a Thing. And Nobody from the Outside'll be able to hear either.".

"I see…", replied Caroline. She had never thought of it that way.

The two of them sat to the bench. It was quite long but Edward was not sure where to sit. He wanted to sit right next to her, but was that alright? Should he keep his distance? In the end he opted to keep a medium distance to her and leave it at that.

"Well, what did you want to talk about?", he asked.

Caroline went straight to the point. "Do you know Anything about the Knights of the Templar Order?".

Edward froze. He slowly turned to face Caroline, who was looking at him with a serious look. "How do you know of them?", he demanded sharply, a dark look in his eyes.

Caroline recoiled slightly. She had never seen him look so cold. She took a deep breath, trying to regain her composure. There was no reason to be afraid of Edward, right? "I was looking into my Father's Study for Evidence. There is a hidden Door there which connects to a secret Room. I've found the Key, and it had a blood-red Cross on it… I looked that up and found out it was their Crest.". Caroline was frustrated. "Do you know Anything about them?".

Edward was not looking at her. "It's not of your Business.".

Caroline felt a surge of anger. "How could it _not_ be my Business, Edward? This is my Father we're talking about! He's planning to betroth me to One of the other Templars in Order to retain his bloody Rank and you're saying that _it's not of my Business_? What made it _your_ Business!?".

"It's not as simple as you think, Caroline!", yelled Edward, a hint of despair in his voice. "This War has been going on for _Centuries_ now. People _kill_ for that Kind of Information, Caroline! Anything you might now, Names, Places, Plans, _Anything_ , is all Information they want! And if they already know what you know, they'll probably kill you just to make sure Nothing gets out! They will do _Anything_ to get what they want, can't you understand Caroline? This isn't Something you can get involved in defenseless!".

"I am _not_ defenseless.", retorted Caroline, angry that Edward dared to think of her as weak.

"You're a Woman for Sale in Order to seal an under-the-Table Deal in a secret Order full of Megalomaniacs, Snakes and Backstabbers! You'll not make it out of there alive!".

Caroline was more confused and frustrated than ever. "But-".

"Darn it, Caroline, I'm worried about you!", he admitted. Why could not she understand that?

Caroline was stunned. "You're- …You're _worried_ about me?", she repeated.

Edward nodded. "I don't want you to be in Danger, Caroline.", he confessed, much more quietly now. "You mean too much to me.".

"Edward…".

Both Edward and Caroline remained silent for a long time, both of them thinking on what each other had said.

Deep inside Caroline was terrified by what Edward had told her. Was she really nothing but a _tool_ to her father? A way to seal deals among the Templars with her being the bargaining chip? Were they really as ruthless as Edward claimed they were? And what was more, Edward had spoken of a war. A war which has been ongoing for centuries now. How was that even possible? How could a war last for so long without the rest of the world noticing? And who were the Templars fighting against?

There were so many things she did not know. Every bit of information she was obtaining only seemed to make her even more scared and confused. There were so many pieces of the puzzle that were missing, and as things processed the gaps were becoming even greater.

" _Edward knows what's going on. But he doesn't know Everything either. He wouldn't be spying Templars otherwise."._

Edward himself was wondering how much he should say to Caroline. Considering her intelligence, as well as who her father is and what his plans for her are, it would be a matter of time before she would learn about the Assassin – Templar war anyway. And if she did that while she was trapped inside a foreign Templar household, and tried to snoop her nose into their business, her days would be counted.

"Did you say Something about a secret Room earlier?", he asked her.

"Yes, it's connected to my Father's Study. I've already found the Key, but not the Room itself.".

"Was it your Father who told you that?".

Caroline threw him a strange look. "No, it's just that the Rooms and the Space don't match.". At that comment Edward felt like a total and complete idiot. He had already scanned Caroline's house with his Eagle Vision once and he _did not even notice_? "I need your Help.", she stated. "I can't find the Room in my own.".

"Wait, you're asking me to _break into your House_?", asked Edward incredulously. It was not that he had not already done that, but people asking him to break into their own house was not an everyday occurrence!

"Yes.", she replied, much to Edward's astonishment. "My Father left today on a Business Trip and won't be back for four Days.".

" _Five Days in total… So it takes about One and a Half Day to reach the Place where that young Templar lives?"_. Now that he thought about it… "Hold on, he's trying to _betroth_ you!?". If the situation was not so tragic his reaction would hilarious.

"Yes.", she replied sadly. "He's a young Man. His Name is Lloyd Edmund Williams. He's a Templar.".

"Medium Height, light brown Hair and brown Eyes?", asked Edward.

Caroline threw him a pointed look. "You _know_ him?".

"I've seen him talking to your Father. Didn't know who he was though.".

Suddenly, a cold gust of wind blew, and both of them shivered. "God, Fall sure is at the Door's Step, isn't it?", commented Caroline, rubbing her shoulders.

"Let's go inside.", agreed Edward. "It's getting quite Cold out here.".

"I have to make sure Rose hasn't passed out from the Ale again.", commented Caroline, earning herself a chuckle.

"An excellent Proposal, my Lady.", he replied with a flirtatious grin.

* * *

 **Author notes: You people did manage to change my mind after all. I will continue updating. However this does not change the fact that I will rewrite this fanfic. There are a LOT of things that need fixing. Anyway, please review. Even anonymously. I need your opinion. Reviews are the only thing that keeps me going. The next chapter will be up soon.**


	9. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer : I do not own Assassin's Creed. **

* * *

**Chapter** **VIII**

" _I really shouldn't judge Rose."_ , thought Caroline the next morning.

She really could not remember much of what had happened last night after she and Edward had gotten back inside and had a few drinks. Only that she had never laughed so hard in her life. Or felt happier, for that matter.

Right now, however, her head was killing her. She could see a low light behind her closed eyelids, but she was hesitant to open them. She briefly wondered where Rose was. She certainly hoped that the adventurous maidservant had not been dragged into some weird company like last time.

And where was Edward? Caroline wanted to go and look for him, but it was so warm and comfortable here… Where was she anyway?

Caroline slowly opened her eyes. The first thing she noticed was that she was outside "The Auld Shillelagh". She was under a tree and the light was being filtered by the green leaves. She turned her head around and saw that Rose was sleeping under a nearby tree in a totally ridiculous and uncomfortable looking pose. Apparently she had fallen asleep while sitting but she leaned and fell on her head during the night. Caroline let a sigh of relief. Nothing bad had happened to her.

The third thing Caroline noticed was that someone was hugging her. Bewildered, she turned her head around to see who it was.

It was Edward.

If Caroline's head did not ache that much she would be up on her feet right now. How in the world did she end up sleeping with _Edward_!? She tried moving from her position, but somehow Edward's relaxed hug turned into an iron grip, without waking up or even changing his position. _"How in the World did he obtain_ that _Reflex?"_ , wondered Caroline. But it did not matter right now. She was trapped.

Caroline decided that waking up Edward was her best bet to escape from his iron grip. So she started shaking him. "Edward! Wake up!".

Edward started moving grudgingly. "Yes, Mother…".

Caroline felt a pang of irritation. "I'm not your Mother, you Idiot! Wake up properly, you're chocking me!".

Edward finally seemed to gain an awareness of his surroundings, and his expression twisted into something weird, as if there was someone else prodding him to get up as well. "Caroline?", he asked confused. "What happened?", he started moving, thankfully releasing her from his hug.

"We drunk too much yesterday. We somehow ended up sleeping together.".

Edward sprung into full awareness at that. "Did anything bad happened between…".

Caroline realized the implications. With a small feeling of panic she quickly checked herself. "No. Fully dressed.", she replied. Edward let a sigh of relief. "What Time is it?", asked Caroline?

Edward briefly checked the sky. "Six or seven in the Morning, I reckon.".

"And our Horses are still here.", noted Caroline. "Good. I'll try to wake up Rose.".

"Good Luck with that.", mumbled Edward. "She almost drank as much as the two of us together.".

Caroline looked at the maidservant's head-on-the-soil and slightly snoring stance. "I can see that.". She turned to the blond. "Anyway, yesterday was great. I can't remember even having that much Fun before.", she said with an honest smile.

"Not much Life for the Gents in Britannia, is there?".

Caroline gave a small laugh, but inside her she felt sad. Edward was right. There was no much freedom for a woman of class, if any at all. She cleared her head of that thought. "About my Request…".

"Looking for the hidden Room, huh? When should I come?".

"Tonight. Can you do that?".

"Aye.", he replied. "But it'll be at some crazy Hour. My Parents are going to have my Hide if I don't show up for a second Night in a Row.", he explained.

"My Mother must be worried.", added Caroline. "I've never done this before.".

"Done what?".

"Going out and not showing up.".

"Fair Point.". Both of them got up on their feet. "I'll see you tonight.".

* * *

Somewhere in the back of his mind Bernard was thinking that usually things were the other way around. Normally it was him trying to calm down Lillian, not Lillian trying to calm down him.

But despite all of Lillian's efforts, Bernard could not help but being worried sick. Because unlike him, Lillian did not know in what kind of trouble Edward was usually messing with. He certainly hoped that nothing bad had happened. He really was afraid that Edward would regret his decisions one of these days. He knew _what_ he was messing with alright, but was he prepared to face it? There is only so much skill and luck could do.

A knock on the door drew both their attention. Without waiting for an answer, the person who was knocking walked in the house. Edward looked at his parents guiltily. "Sorry I'm late.".

"See, Bernard?", said Lillian. "No need to be so worried!".

Bernard was not listening to her. He got up and with two large steps he stood right in front of Edward. "Where were you, Son?".

Edward stared at the two of them. "Isn't it usually the _other_ Way around?…". But then he saw that his father was relentless. "I had gone out at the Tavern for a Drink. Found some… good Friends there, and we had a little too much to drink. That's all, I swear!".

Well, he certainly looked like he was going through a hangover. But there was something else in Edward's expression as well; a "something else" that Bernard knew very well. He was going to go out in the middle of the night again.

"I just expect that your little Hangover won't get in the Way of your Work. We have to finish all of the Storing today; it's Sunday tomorrow.". Edward nodded and proceeded to drink some water. Bernard shook his head. No other choice now…

* * *

Once again Edward shook himself awake in the middle of the night. He had to see Caroline and hopefully find the secret room.

He quickly put on his clothes. These were dark in colour and would help him stay unnoticed easier. He also put on his boots and not his usual shoes, because he knew that there would be a lot of climbing tonight.

But as he reached for the small chest in which he hid his Hidden Blade, he noticed that someone had put something there. Who in the world managed to get in his room? He had not been away from the house all day!

Slowly, Edward opened the chest, caution in every movement. His brows furrowed at the blue package. He turned his Eagle Vision on to see if there was any offending object in it. He almost dropped the package in surprise.

With a feeling of awe, he carefully placed the package on his bed and undid the royal blue fabrics. Inside, laid a Sword and a Hidden Blade.

Edward was awestruck by the quality of the weapons. The sword was unlike anything he had seen before. It was similar to a broadsword but it was barely broader than a cutlass, and on the flat side of the blade there was a word carved with runes that Edward could not read. However, the tip of the blade was curved like a Chinese sword. All in all, the shape of the blade was like a broader version of the cutlass.

The bound with black leather hilt was long enough for it to be held with both hands, and there was a real piece of sapphire stone at the tip of the hilt, which was shaped as a tear. In fact, it was so pointed that a strike with it could cause a very serious injury. The guard of the sword was very artistic as well; an alloy of gold, bronze and steel, shaped like a pair of wings that instead of being wide open and forming a cross guard, like most swords, they were hugging the blade. And another thing that Edward noticed was that the steel was _so dark_ in colour. Instead of glowing like the moonlight, they had the colour of ashes, giving off a duller but no less relentless shine.

And the edge of the blade was… remade? Yes, there were numerous marks from sword strikes and the occasional tiny cane from a heavier weapon, such as a war hammer all over the blade. It was a sword that had seen many battles, and as soon as he realized that Edward's admiration for the sword increased even more. Any other weapon would have been long since destroyed by so many strikes. This here had not even _rusted_. Suddenly he realized the _exact_ reason of why the blade was so dark: it had been covered with smoke so many times that it had almost _ingrained_ itself in the metal. A thin and old weapon of unimaginable value, made not only to be beautiful and to show of wealth, but for real battles.

The Hidden Blade was quite unique as well, though much newer than the sword. Edward had never seen such a type of Hidden Blade before, not in person neither through Altair's and Ezio's memories. Instead of a huge needle it was shaped like the blade of a dagger. The metal was just as dark and its broad side was also curved with intricate patterns. Edward tried extracting the blade. It answered just fine.

Then Edward noticed that the Hidden Blade had a hilt which was attaching the blade with its bracer, and which had been extracted far enough for Edward to be able to hold it. He did just that, and he ended up cradling at his hand a very long dagger.

Realization hit Edward. This thing was _not_ a Hidden Blade. It was merely a dagger with its scabbard, which was extracted by it the same way a Hidden Blade did.

Who in the world made this?

Edward checked the dagger and its scabbard-bracer for any crests or symbols – any sign which could indicate who the maker was. No Assassin insignia, but he expected that. However there _was_ a crest: the two wings folded around a circle with an intricate Gaelic symbol, curved on the hilt of the dagger. He noted that the way it was curved was odd, like the one who engraved it did not want to make it artistic, but _symbolic_.

Both the sword and the dagger were made a long time ago; he could not tell their actual age, and that alone made them priceless, even without the gold and the precious stone. The weapons were also clearly advanced for their age, and despite of all their luxury, they were made to maneuverable and easy to conceal. Edward spun around the sword. Its balance was perfect and the weight was just right.

Edward debated on what he should do. Who had put these in his bedroom? And for what purpose? And who did that crest belong to? He had never seen it before. Was the one who left these to him an enemy or a friend? Should he keep those weapons or get rid of them?

Something inside Edward recoiled to that idea. The two weapons were amazing and one of their kind, he had no doubt of that. But there was more to it than that. The idea of getting rid of those weapon's felt wrong. Edward felt while looking at them the same way he felt while he was remembering Altair and Ezio's memories: it felt like a foreign and newfound part of him that had been there all along.

An image flashed through Edward's mind, but it was too fast and vague to make out anything.

After a lot of inner debating, Edward strapped the sword with the rich blue fabric and hid it into the mattress. The dagger however, he strapped its bracer on his right arm in opposition to the Hidden Blade in his left one.

And then finally, he left the house.

* * *

The free-running course through the woods to Caroline's was exhilarating. He had gone through it before, but there was no feeling of repetition. The forest was never something even; everything was different amongst themselves and this was the reason why free-running through trees was so challenging. Even if it was the trees by the side of the road.

It was not long before he was right in front of Caroline's house. He climbed on the spot he had checked the house from the last time and then proceeded to call upon his jackdaw. The spirit of the bird responded as always and illuminated the night with the colours of its vision. Caroline was in her bedroom, as expected.

With a leap that took a bit of an effort Edward landed on the rooftop with a practiced roll. He ran across it and hung from the edge of it with his fingers. He slightly tapped the window with his foot.

Caroline was awake – it looked like she had not slept at all. Her eyes widened at the sight of Edward hanging from the rooftop, but she quickly opened the window and made room for Edward to jump in. He swung his body back and then forward, landing on his feet without making a sound. The two of them did not exchange words of greeting. No need to.

"Do you know where my Father's study is?", asked Caroline. Edward nodded. "The Key is in the Bookcase with the History Books, on the middle Self, under the Book with no Title.".

"Won't you come?", asked Edward curious but it a low voice.

Caroline nodded in confirmation. "I thought about what you said. I don't want to be a Tool. But… I don't want to be a Burden either.", she admitted. "And you know much more than I. But…". She paused. "I still want to help. You can't do Everything on your own.".

Edward seemed to reflect on her words for a moment. Finally he nodded again; but this time in acceptance. Caroline handed him a key – not the one they were looking for, but one which could open the door of the study. Edward briefly wondered how had Caroline gotten it, but he decided it did not matter.

Without further ado he walked out of the room, with Caroline closing the door behind him. Edward briefly opened his senses to see if there were any other people around who were still awake. Just Caroline and her reassuring blue glow. Perfect. With a silent jog Edward approached the door and used the key Caroline gave him to open her father's study. Thankfully the lock was not in need for oiling – he would have been in serious trouble had that lock made a sound.

Edward walked into the study and locked the door behind him. There it was, Emmet Scott's study. It was the second time Edward was in here but the first time he was seeing this place through his Eagle Vision.

Just like everything else, this place too seemed to turn into something completely different when viewed with his sixth sense. The walls became transparent with their outlines glowing white. The view outside the windows was pitch black; only the green and white glow of vegetation and the white glow of the ground were visible. As for the room itself, Edward felt something akin to shock to see the number of white glows inside the room.

True to Caroline's words, the key which unlocked the secret room was precisely where she said it was, under the book, glowing golden. In fact, the book itself glowed white. There were other hiding places as well – behind portraits, desks, boxes and chests – however Edward was only interested in the Key. He approached the bookcase and lifted the book.

Just like she had said, it had no title; only the Templar cross carved on the leather cover. Edward opened the book. It was one of the history of the Order. Curious, he started browsing through it, however the book only covered the creation and the principles of the Order – staff he already knew from Altair. So he took the key and put the book back in place.

Edward then started looking for the door of the Hidden Room. That was not hard either. The whole bookcase it was hidden behind was glowing white – it was the one right next to the other which had the key in it. The problem was how to _move_ the bookcase.

Edward searched for a hidden switch, some lock behind a book, any indicator which showed how the bookcase could be moved. And… there was none. _"No other Choice."_ , thought Edward. _"I'll have to move the bookcase myself."._ And so he did. Fortunately the bookcase was surprisingly easy to move, and it did not even make a sound. After checking it for any hidden traps or switches – there were none – Edward opened the door.

Emmet Scott's secret room was very similar to the study before it, albeit smaller. It was so similar that at first glance one would wonder why was the room hidden in the first place. There was a desk with a comfy chair near the corner, various candle lights all over the place, and a bookcase.

However that was where the similarities with the study ended.

The walls of the secret room were covered with rich fabric in blood-red colour and in the center of one of the walls hanged a heavy cross. That, along with the weapons here and there that served as decoration and the fact that the only window seemed to be permanently shut with a heavy red curtain, only seemed to add more heaviness to the already imposing atmosphere.

But when Edward saw the weapons hanging from the wall, he scoffed. The weapons were merely a regular broadsword and a cutlass – and of mediocre quality at that. Clearly Emmet Scott was trying to look like he was of a higher rank than he actually was; even _before_ his demotion. That also became obvious from the number of chairs cramped in the small space. In reality, the fact alone that there was a hidden room in the house served to show that the man was a show-off. Edward shook his head. Megalomaniac bastard…

He then called upon his jackdaw again. Edward's senses turned off and combined into a single one. The world turned black and transparent. Edward could taste various white spots that indicated hiding places, and he urged his jackdaw to tap around them.

It was a thing that Edward was working on. When he had his Eagle Vision turned on, he could make the spirit of his jackdaw inside him to get outside and explore the space for itself. The sly little bird looked like an illustration in a Renaissance astronomy book; dark blue in color just like the night sky and its body was filled with stars, while the outlines glowed white. Edward liked to watch it flying around.

Before long the little bird chirped happily to show it had found something. Without turning off his Eagle Vision, Edward approached the desk. The jackdaw sat on his shoulder and then it vanished; he could not keep it out for long. He carefully examined his jackdaw's finding. It was another lock. Edward smirked as soon as he saw it. This one did not require a key, but a code and a needle. And he _knew_ codes. His Eagle Vision supplied Edward with a clear insight of the lock's mechanism, as well as the fantastic lines that were to be united into one in order to solve the code.

Edward extended his old Hidden Blade and worked on the lock. It was open in seconds.

Underneath the desk, there were various documents – business transactions with other Templars. Edward went through them. And as soon as he was done he banged his fist on the desk in frustration. There was _nothing_ he could use here! All of the people mentioned in the documents were way too far from Bristol for Edward to do something without getting noticed. And besides, since there were no high-ranking Templars influencing the Crown even if he started killing people it would result to nothing!

Suddenly Edward noticed another file. Curious, he started reading it. There was nothing special in it. Except… There was a line in there. _"Grandmaster Torres."_. The Grandmaster of the Templar Order. A Spanish name, as expected.

 _This_ was the information Edward had come for.

Time to get out of here and see Caroline.

"Did you find Anything?", asked Caroline once she saw Edward returning.

"Aye.", he replied. "But I can't do Anything about it. All the Templars are too far awar from Bristol.". Caroline was crestfallen. "On a more positive Note, I _did_ find the Name of the Grandmaster.".

Caroline stared. "Why is _that_ important?".

Edward looked at her like she had just asked a very obvious question. "Because he's the one who orchestrates Everything.".

Yes, it _was_ an obvious question. "So what now?".

Edward seemed to be regretting his words. "Now we wait. No Choice.".

"You could stop their Plans, couldn't you?", asked Caroline. It was a wild idea, but she had a feeling that Edward could stop _anything_ , the Templar plot included.

"I've got the Skill but not the Means. Their Base is in Spain. I can't get there.".

"…I see…".

And she looked so cute when she was sulking that Edward could not stop himself. He took her hand in his and kissed it. _That_ snapped Caroline's attention. "Good Night, my Lady!". And with a cocky grin he jumped off the window.

Caroline was lest staring at the spot where Edward was once standing stunned.

* * *

 **Author note: Not much to say. I had rewritten the part where I described the weapons a thousand times over. However the _real_ world-shaking event will happen in the _next_ chapter. Please review!**


	10. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer : I do not own Assassin's Creed.  
**

* * *

 **Chapter** **IX**

For the following few months things fell on some sort of a routine. Caroline and Rose would sneak out of her house as often as they could in order to inform Edward about any of her father's suspicious activities, which were not much, while Edward had started keeping note of everything in a journal. At the same time, Edward was practicing in secret with the Sword and the dagger, struggling to get a hang of those peculiar weapons.

However that was not all. Edward and Caroline had started getting closer and closer to each other over the months, and they had finally admitted that there were feelings for each other.

Edward believed Caroline to be the most amazing woman he had ever met. She had wit and courage as much as beauty, and she also had a canny side in her that did not suit to a lady of class. Her speech and her tastes were refined but not overly so, something that Edward enjoyed and often liked to tease. She did not consider herself to be better than the others and that was something truly refreshing.

But there was more to Caroline than that. She was honorable; she was a person Edward could open his heart to. Every small idea, every strange opinion, every unusual notion, every peculiar habit, everything that made Edward stand out from the others, she could accept it. She would laugh, she would argue, she would give him a few strange looks, she would state her own mind, point out one or two things that not even Edward himself had noticed, and then she would state her own opinion. Even when she could not understand – and Edward could not really blame her for that – she would still trust him and put her faith in him. And Edward _loved_ how she always had her own opinion, how she was her own person.

Like, right now.

"I really don't understand why we have to wear the Corset so tight. I feel like I can't breathe! I swear, there were some Times when my Family and I had gone to some Visits at Friends' Houses for Dinner, and I could not shallow the Food. And my Skin had even changed its Colour!".

Edward winced at that. "Sounds like being taken Prisoner and then they got you tied with a Rope!".

"And tortured right afterwards!", laughed Caroline. "Those Discussions at the Table were so _boring_ … Always the same Gossip and the new Fashion Statements. Like Anything ever changes. Only the Skirts are getting wider and the Corsets tighter.".

Edward laughed as well. "Can't say I know much about Women's Fashion around this Century.".

She gave him a weird look but decided to go with it. "So how was Women's Fashion in some _other_ Century?", she asked teasingly.

"Well, they certainly did not tie their Corsets so tight,", he started with a sly smile "and they preferred to put on some Colour instead of pretending to be living Rocks,", Caroline chuckled at the bad but accurate metaphor "they didn't mummify themselves", Caroline looked stunned he even knew what the word, "and they didn't decorate themselves like Christmas Trees.".

"I'm pretty sure that Christmas Trees have less Jewels than them on.", replied Caroline amused. "Do _I_ look like an over decorated Rock?".

"Nope. You're perfect.", he replied with a wide grin.

"Oh, come on!". She mock-slapped him and Edward took a false hurt look that looked more like an imitation of a puppy.

Edward was always like that. He was a great man who was always treating Caroline as a person. He liked listening to her talking and their playful banter. Caroline knew that she could always count on Edward, she could feel it. He always trusted her and he was always willing to listen to her. He was never overly polite with her, like all the other young men were, nor was he restrictive like her father was. He never judged her. With him Caroline felt free to be herself, and she loved that.

She really liked Edward. Something in his goofy and confident grin and his carefree attitude made her wanting to get closer to him – the teenager was almost glowing! But there was more than care freeness in him. Caroline was mesmerized by his eyes, a blue colour that almost seemed to be unnatural, filled with maturity and intelligence and something that Caroline could only guess it was experience. He was such a mysterious man, Edward. She would oftenly hear people saying that Edward looked older than he was but Caroline had not realized how true that was until she had gotten to know him better. Every once in a while Edward would make some strange comment or reference, like to some mythology or history stuff. His imagination was always running wild, he was able to conceive things that Caroline could not even imagine, and she knew that he was dreaming of even more.

Edward's perception was something to marvel at, like he had a way of seeing the world that no other man did. Like he was looking into the matter instead of the image. It was the only way Caroline could describe the strange gift he seemed to have for always seeing through people. At times it was even as if he could see through _walls_. She could not even understand what he was saying from time to time. Like he spoke in riddles.

But all that mystery mattered little to her. It was a part of Edward that Caroline had accepted. She could handle a bit of mystery. It only made things more… interesting. Yes, that was the right word. Interesting. And exciting.

Of course, if there was one thing Caroline and Edward were trying to avoid at all costs, that was starting a rumor mill. They knew that a lady of class dating a man who was practically a peasant was _bound_ to attract attention; especially if said lady of class was the almost too old to be married daughter of the richest man in the area and said peasant was the strange weapon—loving son of the almost equally strange Bernard Kenway.

Still, Caroline and Edward could not stop _all_ rumors so they had sort of recruited Rose to keep a track on them; and somehow, the young and energetic maidservant managed to make the rumors completely disperse. The young couple had no idea how she had managed it, but they were not complaining.

Caroline's only complaint was that she and Edward had not kissed each other yet.

It was yet another one of Edward's oddities: the fact that he was not quite eager to kiss Caroline for the first time, not because it was Caroline but because… it would not be his first kiss. Or something like that. Caroline could not figure. It was like Edward already knew what kissing was like even though he had never kissed a girl in his life. Another mystery about Edward that Caroline could not understand. And while Edward mysteries normally did not bother her much, this one irritated her to no end.

The one thing that held Caroline from snapping at Edward about that was the fact that he seemed to be trying to _get over_ something. What that "something" was, Caroline did not know; but Edward had given her that general impression. Maybe it had something to do with him knowing what kissing was like.

So Caroline waited. She waited until Edward was able to figure himself out. Because whatever – or _who_ ever – he was trying to get over was covered in ice – no; it was a deeply frozen subject and raw, like a shard of ice that had been stuck in a wound and could not melt. There was nothing Caroline could help. So she waited. And hoped.

* * *

 _Where am I? Where is Sofia? No, he's not- Christina? Why is she- no, wait, there is Mar- that is wrong too._

 _EVA!_

He got up. He could not register his environment. It was night time. He was sleeping inside a room he had never seen before. He was wearing something. Fabric, like _them_ but unlike _theirs_ at the same time. This one was… rougher. And it was coloured. That confused him. Why would anyone bother to colour their clothes? **[1]**

"Where am I?", he muttered to himself.

Someone next to him stirred. A woman. She mumbled a single word that he could not understand, but it sounded like a confused question. And he panicked as soon as he saw her. That was not Eva.

"Who are you? Where are we? What's going on? Did something happen to the others?". He asked all those questions the one after the other in panic, the worst case scenario flying through his mind: his brothers and his sister having been caught and led towards execution or even worse, yet another enslavement. And Eva…

* * *

Caroline was in panic. Something _huge_ was happening right now – she just had no idea _what_. The one moment Edward and herself had fallen asleep together inside Edward's living room, as they always did when it had gotten too cold for Caroline to return home. And the next thing she knew, he was up and panicked, asking questions in an impossible language she had never heard before nor she could place.

Everything about him was different. The way he held himself, his mannerisms, his accent, even his _voice_ was different, like it was dual. Caroline could not understand what was going on, but somehow, deep inside, she realized a single truth; something that was very, _very_ wrong.

"You're not Edward.".

* * *

He heard the woman say something else, but this one was a statement. Taken aback by the sudden change in tone, he turned to look at her. Partially to study her. Because he had confirmed by now that she spoke what he could only assume it was a different language – which was impossible because there were _no_ other languages than _theirs_. **[2]**

He checked the environment with _their_ sense. The "Knowledge", as _they_ called it. No enemies around. Only the woman. And she was glowing blue. She was a sister.

"I do not understand.", he stated in a matter-of-fact tone. Different language or not, she _ought_ to know _theirs_ **[3]** , right?

* * *

Wrong, because Caroline could not understand either. This other person – because there was simply _no way_ the man in front of her was Edward no matter how illogical that sounded – not only he did not know English – which was an awful inconvenience – but he also seemed to have some more major issues of a different kind. He was panicked, looking around the room like he had never seen one before, and Caroline realized with a surprising measure of relief that the man was just as clueless as she was, if not even more.

But now he had relaxed somewhat. The initial what-is-going-on panic had washed off and only cautiousness had remained. However, he meant no ill. His approach was less guarded now and he was much more open than he was before.

She guessed it was safe to move now. "Caroline.", she introduced herself with the usual gesture added for good measure.

The man looked at her. He had certainly picked up the introduction. "Adam.", he replied. And after that he decided to search the house for something. He then scanned the field outside. And apparently he did not find what he was looking for because he turned to Caroline with a curious and concerned expression. "Eva?".

And that was when Caroline's brain stopped working.

Caroline could only stare frozen. Adam? Eva? There was simply _no way_. Her mind was flying, thinking about all the different things that made this statement completely impossible. But _everything_ about this whole situation was impossible. The fact alone that the man in front of her was not Edward even though he was in Edward's body spoke volumes. But how…

The man – she wholeheartedly refused to believe it was Adam even though she somehow knew that it was true – was staring at her as if he was waiting for an answer to his question. She briefly wondered how to explain to the man that Eva was not even alive but she settled for a more diplomatic shrug: the universal I-don't-know gesture. The man disappointed bit back a curse and returned to the window.

* * *

Eva was not here.

What in the world was going on? It was the first time he had been separated from Eva. Ever. He was so worried about her. _Anything_ could have happened to her. How could he have been separated from her? How had he ended up here in the first place? _They_ could not possibly have taken control of them; he and Eva were immune to the effects of the Apple. So how…

What had he been doing in the first place? He could not remember. Trying to do so alone brought him a terrible headache. He shook his head and decided to determine where he was first. He looked out of the window at the sky. It was beautiful, as usual. But there was something off. _Too_ many things were off, in fact.

The stars were not in their usual positions. It took him a while to realize that but it was obvious. The old shapes were gone, and replaced with new ones. **[4]** Adam just stared. Honestly, _what was going on_!?

He decided to activate his sixth sense. It would provide _all_ the answers. Through the map of the sky it would compare the position of the stars in this area with the position of the stars in the area where their hideout was and would provide him with all the information needed to go back.

He was greeted by a nasty surprise. As soon as he tried to activate his other sense his head split in two. Every fibre in his body felt like it being split apart. _You dug too deep_. **[5]** But that was not possible. Normally those things came to him as natural as breathing…

Pain was all he knew, and he felt something akin to relief when the world turned black and he lost all his senses.

* * *

Since Adam had decided to study the skies, Caroline could take her time and really think about the implications. Was that really Adam, the first human that God created? The few hints she had – basically his name, the foreign language and the fact that he knew someone named Eva – pointed to "yes". However there were some things that were off, and Caroline had to think more carefully about. According to the Bible, Adam and Eva were the first and only humans to be directly created by God. In other words, the only other humans they ever got to meet were their own children. So why did not Adam show any surprise at seeing another human?

The only possible explanation was that the Bible was mistaken.

If _that_ was not something that sounded insane, she did not know _what_ it was.

She looked at him – well, Edward actually. He was in Edward's body. She briefly wondered how he really looked like. Or why he has not realized that there is something wrong with himself.

And then he bent in pain.

Something in Caroline pushed her to his side immediately. She did not know why; but it was obvious that the man was in intense pain, cradling his head like someone was ripping it apart. And then he lost his senses.

Caroline did not know what to do. Somewhere inside, she was terrified. Who would wake up? Would it be Adam or Edward? She carefully tried to move him to the couch – a much harder task than she had first thought.

 _This_ was beyond her understanding. This was beyond _anyone's_ understanding. It was not just a huge mystery laid out before her; this was all logic being defied. Suddenly, many of Edward's oddities made awfully a lot of sense. How could he _not_ be so strange when he… he what? She did not know. Nothing made sense any longer.

And suddenly, he started moving. With a groan he tried to sit up. And then he opened his eyes and looked straight at her. Caroline gulped. Or she _would_ , if she remembered how to do it.

His eyes were gold. They were glowing in an unnatural golden light, as if the precious metal had been turned into a blazing liquid and had replaced his blue eyes. She had thought that it was the blue colour that was almost unnatural, but now these eyes made the blue ones look perfectly normal.

"Caroline…?", he mumbled. "God, my Head's killing me…". English. It was Edward. But the eyes… "What happened?", he asked. And then he noticed the way she was looking at him.

A few random images came to his mind. But one stuck. The image of a horrified and bewildered Caroline while _he_ was asking questions about Eva's whereabouts and received no answer.

Edward froze. He _knew_ that feeling. It had happened to him many times before, when he was a boy. He would sleep deeper and deeper until his mind started searching into the consciousness of others instead of his own. And then he woke up he would be… someone else. Ezio, most of the times. Or Altair, more rarely. But when something like that happened, he was quick to snap out of it. He was just a bit older than a toddler when that used to happen and two full grown men would never confuse their bodies for a toddler's.

But this "identity change" had not happened in _years_. And the last person Edward ever expected to wake up as was the agile naked thief from the white tower in the forest, Adam. And as if that was not enough, the "change" had happened _in front of Caroline_. She had spoken to Adam.

"I'm sorry.", he said, massaging his temples while she looked at him with an expression that was a mix of terror and relief. "I really am…".

Caroline was hesitant, unable to comprehend. "Does this…", she started "happen… often?".

"It had stopped Years ago…", replied Edward, too tired to lie or hide the truth somehow. "And never with _him_.". Caroline did not ask him what he meant. Edward was grateful. She nudged her way next to him and Edward embraced her with one arm. They stayed like that for a while, silent. They did not know what to say.

It was Caroline who broke the silence. "Was it _him_?". Edward looked at her somewhat confused. "Was it really _him_?", she continued pressing. "Adam? From the Bible?".

Edward seemed to ponder on it for a moment. He gave his answer eventually. "The only one of his Memories I can recall is him and Eva breaking into a huge white Tower, stealing Something and then running away as fast as they could. There were countless People in that Tower, working on Metal, I think. He thought of them as Brothers and Sisters. And all that Time Adam was thinking about how _they_ controlled Everything.".

" _They_?", demanded Caroline. "Who are _they_?".

Edward chuckled nervously. "That's a very long Story.".

"We have Time.", countered Caroline.

"I think you had your fair Share of World-shaking Events for Tonight.", said Edward with an attempt for humor.

The ghost of Adam himself accidently possessing Edward and proving the Bible wrong. "Yes, you're right.".

* * *

That night the two of them kissed.

Edward was trying to be gentle with her, but Caroline would not have it. She pushed him until he let the desire take over, and it was more than Caroline would ever ask. That moment she decided that it did not matter. It did not matter that Edward was a peasant. It did not matter that he was involved in ancient wars. It did not matter if he was a freak of nature.

All that mattered was that he loved her. And she loved him. And if Edward was to lose himself, she would be his anchor to reality. To his _own_ reality. A reality in which Caroline and Edward were together.

* * *

 **Author notes: the world-shaking chapter, as promised!**

 **[1] I do not know if you have noticed, by the precursors were always wearing white or grey clothing (there was a guy with a red colar at some point, but it does not really count). Humans from the other hand, did not wear any clothes at all, anly that weird, see-through, plastic jumpsuit. It makes sense that Adam would not pay any praticular attention to clothes, and seeing colourfull fabric would certainly leave an impression on him.**

 **[2] Hence the reason why he does not bother to name them. Why give a name to the language if there is only ONE of them? What I am trying to say is, Adam in this fic does not give much of a value to names and titles, because that is a thing they precursors do. That makes Adam a hard characted to write, because names and titles hold a lot of power in the human history.**

 **[3] Yet another example of Adam not giving any value to names. It was humans vs precursors during his era; no need to name the two sides when they were seperated by species.**

 **[4] Simple science. I had once seen in a book how some of the most well-known constelations looked like ten thousand years in the past, and how they would look like ten thousand years in the future - and I'm telling you, they were hardly recognisable. In the 75.000 that seperate Adam from Edward, the differences in the night sky must have been HUGE.**

 **[5] Adam has at least 50% precursor DNA. Edward of course is nowhere close to that number. Of course Adam's Eagle Vision would be stronger.**

 **My itention at first was to write Edward and Caroline romance, but I have never written romance before. Adam just wrote himself into this chapter, and be certain that he will appear in the future as well; especially after the Sage comes in the game.**


	11. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I do not own Assassin's Creed.  
**

* * *

 **Chapter** **X**

Edward was vending his frustration the tree. He was holding the sword with both hands this time, and was attacking the tree. Not to practice, as he normally would, but in order to _separate_ himself. Separate himself from the _others_ , that is.

The sword was definitely helping, he decided. Altair and Ezio had never seen a weapon like this. And Adam had never seen a weapon in his life. At least not any weapon which was not powered up by some strange and unknown power source.

How could this happen? How could that… identity problem start again? And why Adam? Were the Ones Who Came Before trying to send him a message? Was it that he had already seen all of Altair and Ezio's memories? Or was it simply that his emotions right now were very similar with Adam's?

Edward had no idea. All he could do was take the sword and practice with it. That would help.

But not as much as Edward hoped.

When Edward was practicing with the sword, he was seeing things. There was something off in the feeling he was getting from the blade. Like it had become too familiar too fast. Like its name was on the tip of his tongue but he could not recall it at the moment. It frustrated him to no end. It was too much like Bleeding for his liking.

Bleeding. He did not know _why_ he used that word. It was a part of some random terminology his mind was using in order to describe his ability to recall his ancestors' memories. "Genetic memory" was the memory of the ancestor. "Sequence" was the set of that kind of memories. "Synchronization" was the ability to recall them. And "Bleeding effect"… "Bleeding effect" was the effect that those memories had on him. Edward was not sure _where_ that terminology was coming from. It was perhaps a set of terms that the Apple had given to Altair. That was the most possible explanation.

The Bleeding effect was the worst part of Edward's ability. It was something that was beyond control, appearing where you least expected it. He was grateful that he had Ezio and Altair's abilities in combat, but that was the _only_ positive that had come out of it. Some times he did not even know who he was.

So Edward had pushed. He had pushed further into his memory in order to finally separate himself from Altair and Ezio. Back then he was just a toddler, and his only motivation was not to be considered a freak. But it had worked.

And now Adam and the Sword came knocking his door.

At the very least he had Caroline. She was his treasure. His anchor. She was unique and there was never anyone like her. And she was _his own_. Without her Edward would be lost.

He would reach the answer to this mystery as well. For Caroline's sake.

* * *

In the end Edward grew bored of playing with the broad cutlass and he went to "The Auld Shillelagh". Usually he was not hanging around there during the winter, but that day there was not much work needed and so he could do as he pleased for the day. A rare break from work, but needed.

However, as soon as Edward stepped in the tavern all his previous thoughts about having a bit of ale and relaxing dispersed from his mind.

The atmosphere was tense. Restless. Something big had happened, and there was no need to be a specialist in reading the air in order to notice it. The loud and mostly cheerful atmosphere of the tavern was no more. It was _noisy_. But that noise sounded like the background sound of a much bigger drama. Everyone had gathered in small, tight-knitted groups, talking in somewhat loud whispers. Like they did not want to be heard, but they were too nervous to control their tone. Even the usual trouble makers and drunkards were more sober than usual. Not even the Cobleighs and Julien – who were also present – were stirring any trouble.

Edward felt himself stiffen. With a few long strides he got next to the barman, who looked as nervous as ever; but it was a different kind of worry that plagued him now – Edward could tell. "What happened?", he demanded lowly, the tone severe.

The barman looked around to see if anyone was eavesdropping at them, and then he leaned closer to Edward. The blond had never seen him acting like that before. "A Tipstaff sent from the King came here.". Edward's furrowed, paying now much closer attention than he did before. "He said that the Spanish had started a War, and that they now offer Privateering Contracts so Anyone who wants to can fight for the Crown!". **[1]**

"When did that happen!?", asked Edward alarmed.

"Just this Morning, I'm telling you! No Warning, no Nothing beforehand!".

Edward's mood darkened. "So it has started…", he muttered. The Templars' plan was finally in motion.

"What?", asked the barman stunned. "You _knew_ this would happen!?".

"For about five Months now.", he replied, not caring about how the barman would perceive the answer. And then Edward strode out of the tavern, ignoring the barman's demands for explanations.

He had to find Caroline. _Now_.

* * *

As it turned out, he did not have to search far. Edward found Caroline at his doorstep, knocking the door, with a very worried Rose right next to her.

"Caroline!", he called out, just as his mother opened the door.

"Edward!", she called in return, making Rose and Lillian to slightly flinch at her tone.

Edward jogged towards her. Caroline look scared. Almost as scared as she was when she first met Adam. That was the moment when he knew that she had terrible news to share.

"Come in, come in.", said Lillian, obviously worried. Edward was thankful that his mother could read people's moods.

With a few thankful nods to her, the three entered Edward's home and went straight upstairs to his bedroom. Caroline and Edward sat on the bed, while Rose chose to sit on the extra blankets which were stuffed in a corner.

"What happened?", asked Edward Caroline.

Her answer was not what he expected. "My Father betrothed me to Lloyd Williams.".

Time seemed to freeze for Edward.

For a moment there were no worries about wars and secret plots. There was no Rose, there was no bedroom, there was nothing. All there was is Caroline. And the words she had spoken. Words which Edward could not understand. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he wondered if that was what Caroline felt like when she met Adam.

" _What_?".

Caroline took a deep breath, looking as if she was barely holding herself from breaking down. "My Father. Betrothed me. To Lloyd Williams.".

"But…". Edward could not understand. He _refused_ to understand. Caroline? _Betrothed_? To _Lloyd Williams_? "When did that happen?".

Caroline broke down. "I- I'm so sorry, Edward! My Father just came to me this Afternoon and said that he decided to make this Engagement as fast as possible… He left just now to tell him the News himself! I had found Nothing in his Study or his secret Room! So why…?".

Edward hugged her, while rubbing circles on her back. Caroline just let herself cry on his shoulder. Edward had never seen Caroline cry. She was so strong, there was nothing that could make her bent. Yet here she was, crying like a little girl. "Must have Something to do with the King's Announcement.", stated Edward, trying to make sense of everything he had found out today.

"What do you mean?", asked Caroline, her attention now turned to Edward.

"Didn't you hear?", he asked her. She shook her head "no".

"The Barman at the Tavern told me that some Military Guy from the King showed up today saying that a War with the Spanish started and they're looking for Privateers. Your Father must be pissed they didn't warn him.".

As soon as he said that Edward inwardly scolded himself for his slip-up, but Caroline did not even seem to notice. Edward felt a wave of sadness and pity as soon as he noticed that. Caroline was always so observing and sharp-witted; he could not even imagine how sad she was to not even notice that Edward had revealed her father had something to do with the newly announced war.

"Don't worry, Caroline.", he said eventually. "We'll figure this out. I won't let you marry that Bloke, alright? Just be strong.". Edward hoped that he could keep that promise.

* * *

"Oho… So Kenway knew about the War, didn't he? Anything else he knows and he would like to share!?". He shouted the last part.

Tom Cobleigh was furious. First that all rich army bastard shows up in that fancy suit with a big time announcement from the King, and then Kenway says that he _knew_ about it!? "Who do the Kenways think they are? First Bernard with that holier-than-thou Attitude, then his Son starts snooping around…".

"He was _always_ snooping around, Father.", interrupted Seth, but Tom ignored him.

"…he starts dating that little Princess and then he becomes a know-it-all? I had enough of the Kenways and their God-damned Mysteries!".

Tom Cobleigh had known Bernard Kenway for quite a few years now; ever since the man had moved to Bristol. And he irritated him to no end. He was acting like he was better than all of them, playing the freaking diplomat and tough guy while he was in fact a coward. Tom still remembered those first two or three months when Bernard had first arrived. The man would ask all sorts of questions about every little thing, snooping his nose where it was not his business.

And his son? A right freak, that one. Tom had heard the rumors; the lad throwing knives at the walls to spend his time and seeing things that were not there. And now _that_ Edward Kenway thought that he could poke into people's business and date that goddess who lived at Hawkins Lane. The young Kenway was not a coward; Tom Cobleigh would give him that. But he was a damned fool.

"Easy Tom.", said Julien. "Kenway will be put in his Place. Only a Matter of Time.". **[2]**

"That's what you _always_ say!", complained Seth.

"We'll get him.", reassured them Julien. "Just don't shout – the Others are staring at us. God knows the Kenways have Ears…".

Both Tom and Seth threw the man a strange look. "Why, you say they're _spying_ on us?".

"I say that one can never be too careful.", replied Julien, rubbing his neck. Oh yeah, _right_. The man had gotten a fist at the neck last time he had confronted Edward Kenway.

Tom Cobleigh did not know what had possessed the lad to do that, but it turned out to be a much better – or worse, depending how you see it – move than it looked. In fact, Julien's voice had become raspier since that fight, and he had started coughing – a throaty cough which did not sound healthy at all. Tom Cobleigh felt his blood boil. Whatever it was that Kenway had done to Julien, it had damaged the man _permanently_. **[3]**

He would make Kenway pay. Both of them.

* * *

Bernard did not like what he was hearing. He did not like it at all.

Once again the British Crown was asking for privateers, just like they had done over twenty years ago. This was the kind of mess that had taken his friend, William, away. Not that he was a saint, but in the end he was punished unfairly and because of things he could not understand. **[4]**

Yes, Bernard knew the consequences of privateering well.

This new war would destroy people's lives, even after it was over. _Especially_ after it was over. There would be all kinds of desperate people in need for a coin or a bit of glory going after the privateering contracts like a pack of wolves after a deer. Most of them would not stand a chance in the open sea. They would not take orders. And that was vital for a troop to survive.

Because the crew of a ship was a troop, in a way. There was the man in charge, the ones who were called to fight, the doctor, the ones who managed everyone's coordination… In order to achieve that skill and willingness to work with other people was needed. The navy had discipline. The pirates had their "collective madness". Privateers did not have that.

Was _this_ what the Templars were planning? To create a chaos at the open seas? What did they want? What was their aim?

" _What are you going to do, Edward?"_.

* * *

As soon as Caroline and Rose left, Edward contemplated on his next action. What should he focus on? Caroline or the war?

Edward had no doubt that Caroline's engagement to Lloyd Williams was a consequence of the war. The betrothal was bound to happen anyway – it was only a matter of time. However Emmet Scott was clearly trying to restore his rank in the Templar Order, and Edward had determined from the beginning that the only way to achieve this was to betroth Caroline to Lloyd Williams. Obviously Emmet Scott was enraged that there was no-one had told him about the application of the Templar Plot, and he hoped to restore his rank as fast as possible.

The problem that now appeared was Lloyd Edmund Williams. According to Caroline, Emmet Scott must have sent him a letter stating his acceptance of Caroline being betrothed to the young man. The letter must have been sent this noon. In order to reach the place where Lloyd Williams lives, it would take the postman at least one and a half day. Now it was afternoon. Edward still had time to catch up to the postman.

There were many things he could do. He could steal the letter, for one. That would be the easiest solution. But how would Lloyd Williams react? Would he remain blissfully ignorant? Or was he _expecting_ the letter and was counting on the King's announcement to enrage Emmet Scott? Why did the young man want to marry Caroline in the first place? It was not because he was head over heels for her, that's for sure. But then again, that _could_ be the reason. Edward had no idea. Now that he thought about it, he did not know many things about the man. He had to find out more.

It was a start.

"Taken your decision?".

The voice jolted Edward off his musings. Surprised, he turned to the door to see that his father was casually leaning on it. "Father! How did you-". _"How did he manage to_ sneak _on me!?_

Bernard looked _amused_ at his reaction? Edward sometimes hard a really hard time reading his father's moods. He was a stoic man; he did not express his emotions openly.

"I figured you would worry about the King's Announcement.", he replied. Then he turned serious. "Do you want to go?".

"Priveteering?", asked Edward. The thought had not even crossed his mind earlier. But it did not take much pondering on. "No. There are more important Things that need to be settled.".

"A good Decision.", approved Bernard. "It's about that Lass, isn't it?".

"Caroline?". Edward was surprised to hear that. He was not trying to hide his relationship with Caroline from his parents – there was no point in it – but his father had never really brought up the subject. "Yes.", he admitted. "She was some… emerging Problems of a… different Kind.".

Bernard nodded. Edward was glad that he did not demand for any more details. "Do Whatever you want. But _be careful_. Those are mysterious Times. Pay Mind where you're trading.".

He did not need reminding. But still… He once again examined his father. He always had this strange grace… Edward still remembered when he was little, how his father would play mock swordfights with him. "Take care of Caroline for me.", he said. "I'll be out for a while.".

Bernard did not comment on that. He merely nodded, and left the room.

As soon as he left, Edward sprung into action. He quickly put on his more durable clothes – thankfully dark in colour – and his boots. In a small sack he put in his journal, his extra coin and a little water and food. He strapped his Hidden Blade on his left arm, as usually, and he hid his small collection of throwing knives under his clothes. And then his eyes fell on his mattress. Under which his sword and dagger were hidden.

Carefully, Edward lifted the mattress and examined the weapons. Both of them shining dully at the light, dark, invaluable, alien but familiar. There was something… appealing about them. Without really realizing what he was doing, Edward picked up the two blades.

Upon contact the usual jolt went through his skin. That jolt assured him; he was taking them with him, no questions asked. He strapped the dagger on his right arm. He debated on how he should strap the sword. He could not use the blue fabric – it was too fancy and would attract a lot of attention, if someone was looking for it. The hilt of the sword would also attract a lot of attention. The sapphire stone made the sword look like a piece that belonged to the King's vaults.

Eventually he took a leather strap from his father's stores – what did his father want the leather straps for anyway? – and he made a makeshift belt for the sword. He used another piece of fabric to cover the stone and the visible parts of the hilt, for good measure. The blade could hide itself, so dark in colour that it was.

Finally, Edward put on his autumn coat over his clothes and weapons. He took a deep breath. _"Here we go…"_.

And with that, he took the family horse and he was off.

* * *

 **Author note: Finally we have kicked off with the plot!**

 **[1] As I said, the story needs to be rewritten in order to fit historical facts. I did not know anything about 18th century history when I wrote this chapter, so forgive my ignorance.**

 **[2] All I will say for now is that I have special plans for Julien.**

 **[3] A punch in the neck would have made the victim's vocal cords and oisophagus (I think that's the term in english) to colide with each other and cause strong friction. Also, the blood flow towards the brain would temporally cut, and the veins would be damaged as well. And on top of all that, there is a slight possibility that the bones at that area of the spinal cord would crack. During a fight such as the one in the second chapter, all that would not be noticed, but now Julien experiences the symptoms and concequences of Edward's attack. And remember, in the 18th century there is no healing this stuff.**

 **[4] A bit more of Bernard's background. I will not say who William is, but I believe that I have given enough information. One hint: he is not an OC.**


	12. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I do not own Assassin's Creed.  
**

* * *

 **Chapter** **XI**

Caroline knew that something was wrong once she spotted Mrs. Kenway.

Most of the time Lillian Kenway was in a good mood, always happy to see Caroline coming by. The woman always seemed to have one ear stuck to the door, ready to accept any and all visitors. She was a pleasant person and beautiful in spite of the fact that she was no longer young, and that was because her face would be illuminated when she smiled.

But today was different. Today Mrs. Kenway did not even notice Caroline at the doorstep. The one who opened the door was in fact Mr. Bernard. "Good Morning, Mr. Bernard.", greeted Caroline, somewhat surprised.

"Good Morning, Miss Caroline.", he greeted in return. "Come in.", he said, making way for her to step through the door.

Caroline walked in absentmindedly. It was strange; she had not seen Edward yet. Usually the man was in town, at "The Auld Shillelagh", at the fields with the sheep or at _her own_ house. He was definitely not at her house, it was too early to be at the tavern, and if he was in Bristol or at the fields she would have already spotted him.

"Is Edward upstairs?", she asked. It was the only option left, as unusual as it sounded for him.

Bernard gestured her to take a seat, and Caroline did so. He mimicked her and took a seat himself. Caroline started growing increasingly worried. This behaviour was so unlike Bernard. "Did Something happen?", she asked.

"Edward left.".

It took a moment for Caroline to process this. "What do you mean, _he left_?".

"He packed a few Things yesterday Evening and then he left. He'll be back – but I don't know when.".

Realization hit Caroline. " _Oh Dear_ … He went after Lloyd Williams.". She shut her mouth with her hands as soon as she said that. Mr. Bernard _did_ know about the Templars, but he could not possibly know that Edward had been gathering information on them. Could he?

Bernard said nothing. Instead, he stared at Caroline with a strangely focused and at the same time _un_ focused look in his eyes. Like he was trying to see _through_ Caroline instead of _at_ her. Once again, Caroline shivered under the older man's gaze. She could not look at him in the eye. Not in the way she sometimes could not look at Edward in the eye – Bernard's gaze was not some ancient mystery. However there was something else in there; experience and knowledge that comes with life, far superior to most people's.

"He has.", he finally said. "What you're planning on doing?".

Caroline paused at that. What was she planning on doing?

Her first thought was to follow Edward. There _had_ to be a way to help him! Caroline knew that Edward had told her nothing of his trip in order to protect her. But she did not need any protection! "I'll follow Edward.", she finally stated.

Bernard raised an eyebrow. "Do your parents agree with this?".

Caroline froze. Oh. _Oh_. She had not thought of that. There was simply no way to disappear from her house for who knows how long and her father not noticing. That alone could cause myriads of problems. She would definitely end up revealing her relationship with Edward, that was for sure. And if her father was to find out _why_ Edward had left Bristol in the first place… She did not even want to think what would happen.

So following Edward was not an option. But she still had to help Edward _somehow_. _"Think simply and rationally."_. _Right_. As if there was anything about Edward Kenway that was simple and rational. What could she do to help him while he was not even here!?

"I want to help him…".

"If that's what you want.", replied Bernard.

Oh. She had not realized that she had said that out loud. She lost her temper then. "I don't even know _where he is_! And wherever he is, he's not _here_! How am I supposed to help him like that!?".

Bernard did not seem to really care. "That's for you to figure.", was his unhelpful response.

"That's not helping in Anything!".

"Then don't figure a Thing.", he snapped back. Caroline took a back step – she had not noticed when she got up – with confusion written in her features.

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?".

Bernard let out a disappointed sigh, and Caroline realize what she had done. She had been _yelling_ at her boyfriend's father! _Oh Lord_. She was _doomed_. When she looked at Mr. Bernard's expression, she felt like she had failed some sort of a test. "Do what you always do.", told her Bernard. "Keep an Eye on your Father. Look for Information. Act like Everything's normal. Do Anything needed so your old Man doesn't notice Something's amiss. All that's no different from what you're _always_ doing.".

He was right. _Of course_ he was right. Caroline felt so stupid. Mr. Bernard was testing her to see how she would react under different situations and she had failed every part of the test. He was not angry at her. But he was disappointed and Caroline felt horrible about it. Like she had failed her mother.

For a long time Caroline did not speak and neither did Bernard. He had nothing to say. So Caroline bid him goodbye and left, lost in her thoughts.

* * *

When Edward _did_ finally reach the end of Lloyd Williams' trail, he let a curse under his breath. "Well, looks like I'll be away from Home for much longer that I thought.".

The first thing Edward had done once he left the house was to use his Eagle Vision to find the postman's trail. That in itself was the easy part. The postman was using the same route Edward had spied when trying to track down Williams. All Edward had to do was follow the man from a distance and wait for the right opportunity to steal the letter. He could have done it at any time, but he did not want the poor lad to tell Emmet Scott or Williams that some crazy man had assaulted him.

However once Edward reached the end of the trail he paused and stared slack jawed. His job had just become much harder.

The end of the trail was not Lloyd William's house, as Edward had thought. It was a _harbor_. **[1]** The postman would leave the letters on the ship and then another man would deliver the letters.

Well, _shite_. Edward had no experience with ships. Both Altair and Ezio had been on ships, but that was not of much help because that was _centuries_ ago. And yet embarking on a ship here was the only option.

Edward remained hidden on a high spot and carefully scanned the vessel, trying to learn as many things as possible.

Edward had never seen an eighteenth century vessel before. The first thing he noted was that the shape of those modern ships had changed. Instead of being narrow for all their length, those ships were shaped like a triangle or a water-drop, clearly designed for worse weather than the Mediterranean seas and extra cargo. _"Are those the open seas vessels?"_.

The ship that Edward was spying was a fancy but horrid-looking merchant vessel. He figured that it was a merchant ship because there were no guns on her deck – Edward was pretty sure that ships in this century did have cannons or something of the like on them – and there were no mercenaries or trained for battles crew on her. In fact, the ship herself did not look like she ever needed repairs.

He had to find a way to embark on the ship. But how should he do it?

His thoughts went to the Privateering contracts. Trying to get in the ship by asking for a job would give him more knowledge and experience that would be needed later, and perhaps an extra coin. However he was only seventeen. How many chances were there to accept him for anything? Edward did not even know where the ship was going! And besides, his name would be most probably recorded somewhere. He preferred to avoid that.

Then what if he could hide bellow deck, among the cargo? Nobody would know he was on the ship. However Edward saw the flows of that solution as well. Should anyone find him, he would end up stranded in the sea.

So what was the least bad scenario? Being drowned or chased?

Edward settled for asking for a post and he saw something. Or more like, some _one_. A man dressed in relatively rich clothes ran towards one of the small portals along the ship's broader side – were cannons placed under a ship's deck as well? – and with surprising swiftness – even Assassin level – he climbed inside without anyone noticing.

A wealthy stowaway. Looks like Edward was not the only one trying to get in the ship unnoticed.

He quickly called upon his jackdaw to check every man on and around the ship. Most of them were the typical transparent grey. One or two people were glowing red. Guards. He could easily get past them. The postman glowed gold. He was the man with the letter, after all. There was someone who was glowing white. Better keep an eye on him. And the stowaway was glowing blue. _An ally_.

Edward ran towards the ship and after climbing her up, he walked in the ship.

* * *

This was a risky game they were playing. Bernard Kenway knew that well.

He remembered his own misadventures all too well, and yet Edward had managed to dig deeper into the Templar business than he himself ever had. **[2]** Right now, Bernard had no idea where Edward was. _Nobody_ knew where Edward was. And the fact that the boy had not stated his destination was… troublesome.

Bernard had never looked too deeply into the secrets his son was hiding. He had found out the hard way how it was like to be a parent to a child that was never truly _just a child_. At the very least, that was what Bernard understood. The only way to raise Edward was to go along with him. Help him figure himself out. And as it turned out, the only way to make Edward open up was fighting. Mock duels and actual spars. Give the boy a classic, old-fashioned weapon and take his soul.

And Bernard did just that. In spite of what Lillian said. In spite of what _anyone_ said. If putting lines through fighting was the only way for Edward to define the reality around him, then so be it. And now look at him. A young yet mature man, of values and with skills, who knew what he wanted and took the responsibilities which came with his desires.

But still… How did Edward even _know_ about the Templars? Bernard did not know. Edward would never talk about it. And so Bernard never asked. The boy knew what he was doing. That was all that mattered.

But now Edward was in a tough spot, and every person he knew was dragged along with him. The situation they had been dragged into was confusing, to say the least. Bernard had a clear order of what to do: protect Caroline Scott.

The order sounded simple enough but in reality it was a very tricky one. It was merely a matter of time before the residents of Bristol realized that Edward was missing. And when that happened, the fact that neither his parents nor his girlfriend said a word on it would raise a whirlwind of rumors which would eventually reach Emmet Scott's ears. After that, everything depended on what the Scott family would do.

Anything could happen at this point. Bernard was certain that Edward would return with blood on his hands. There was no question about that. The man named Lloyd Williams had his days counted. And his death would create chaos.

Lloyd Williams' death would not be the end of Edward's small adventure. It would only be a new beginning. There were no symbols, crests and duties in this phase. This was merely a trial of the heart, to see if Edward and the friends and family he would make were up to the challenges that would be set in front of them in the future.

Bernard only hoped that Edward would come out a winner. Because if he won this trial, he would give himself a solid base to have his feet on and a good start. If he failed, Edward would lose everything.

There would be fighting. No question about it. And Bernard still had a few fights in him.

Perhaps it was time for him to unbury yet another treasure.

* * *

 **Author note: I will admit, I am greatly discouraged. Have you people got ANY idea how disappointing it is when the viewers and visitors per chapter become lesser and lesser? Last chapter, there were only TEN PEOPLE who read it! And in the first chapter I had over fourty viewers! PLEASE, show a little support! Leave a review - even anonymous - SOMETHING! This sounds a lot like begging, I know, but I can't believe that my best fanfic so far is the one that received the least attention. I was so excited when I was writing this fanfic during July, and I don't want to abandon yet another fanfic. This is my first Assassin's Creed story ever. Please give me your opinion - even flames are welcome at this point.**

 **[1] Remember when I said that this story needs to be rewritten? I had no idea that Bristol had a harbor.**

 **[2] It will be a long time before details on Bernard's background are revealed. Once I am far enough in the story I will write a seperate fanfic which will describe Bernard's story - that is, if I have enough support.**


	13. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer : I do not own Assassin's Creed.  
**

* * *

 **Chapter** **XII**

After a lot of consideration Edward decided that the best course of action would be to hide among the ship's cargo. The merchant vessel had more than enough boxes to hide in and nobody was bothering to check them. Edward thought that was stupid. Did they really think that they were impervious to theft? Here there were _two_ stowaways hiding bellow deck and the crew had not noticed a thing!

And speaking of the other stowaway, where was he? Or more accurately, _who_ was he. He was wealthy; too wealthy to sneak into ships. However the way alone that he climbed on the broader side of the ship spoke of a more adventurous life. The man was almost to the level of an Assassin. In fact he was almost the level of a master – the speed and technique in his climbing was excellent. And all the more, the man was signed as an ally. Edward could ask for his help.

But in order to ask for the man's help he had to find him first. But just before Edward was to get out of the box he was hiding in and search for the potential ally, someone showed up.

It was a lone sailor with a lantern in hand. He looked around a bit. "None's here…", he muttered. And with that, he left. Edward resisted the urge to facepalm. The captain had sent an almost drunk and obviously tired lad to check on the sugarcane cargo? It was like the captain was _begging_ to be theft from! Seriously, who _owned_ this ship?

Anyway, Edward decided that it would be better if he waited for the ship to set sail. After all, he would find the letter and steal it, and then perhaps he would make friends with the potential ally on board.

But first, waiting.

And patience was a true virtue.

Edward had absolutely no idea how long he was hiding among those boxes. He felt like he was waiting for centuries! It took all of Edward's self control not to start pacing up and down the deck and give himself away. And he was dead tired on top of that… He had not slept last night so he could catch up with the postman. But Edward was too anxious to sleep. And God knew how tired he was…

* * *

Edward Kenway was missing.

That was the word that had been spread among the residents of Bristol. The young lad had not been seen for two days now. Rumor had it that he had left his place without a word. And yet his parents had mentioned absolutely nothing.

That alone drew the attention of many people towards the Kenways. Usually the residents of Bristol would completely dismiss the Kenway oddness. If you ignored some of the things Bernard and Edward were saying, they could pass very nicely as a completely normal family. But the son leaving his own home and his parents acting like everything was perfectly fine was begging to be investigated.

Where could he have gone? And why now?

"He joined the Privateers, I reckon.".

"And leave his Girlfriend behind? I don't think so.".

"Nah. That Relationship of theirs was never meant to last.".

"Bet he ran off because of her Father.".

"Emmet Scott? What about him?".

"Heard he's been acting strange lately.".

"Like "being more of a Bastard than usual" strange?".

" _And_ that.".

"Now that you mention it, he's been coming and going quite frequently as of late…".

"Maybe trading Season is up…".

"The _what_ Season?".

"Cut your Crap! That Gent's acting like he's some Lord. Bet he expected that Tipstaff to have a special Invitation for him or Something.".

"Don't be an Idiot. His Ego's bigger than that.".

"Anyway, I'm glad he managed to kick the Kenways off.".

"That Edward Lad only. And who says he kicked him off? Maybe he'll come back.".

"Says you.".

"What makes you think he'll come back?".

"He's too stuck to Emmet Scott's little Princess as it is. And his Parents said Nothing of his Disappearance… Maybe he told them he'd leave and be back after a while?".

"Doesn't sound too crazy…".

"Oh, Tosh! The Kenways are all about crazy.".

"They're not _crazy_ , they're _strange_. There's a Difference.".

"Is there now?".

"Aye, there is.".

"Says you.".

"Well, you can't call Bernard crazy…".

"You're kidding me? That holier-than-Thou Attitude's getting in my Nerves…".

"Aye, he's even worse than Emmet Scott…".

"He's not worse that Emmet Scott. At least that Bernard Guy earns his Bread and Butter.".

"The Butter he makes himself. Doesn't count.".

"That's not my Point.".

"I don't think talking about Bernard Kenway is a good Idea…".

"Why not? He'll chop us off?".

"Well, yes.".

"Huh?".

"You know what they say about Edward Kenway! Weapon Maniac with Hallucinations! Who says his Father is not the same?".

"You really believe those Fairytales?".

"We're better off without them.".

"So you say. That Bernard Kenway's the only one who puts his Foot down when Emmet Scott decides to play Lord.".

"He's right about that…".

"Really, Lads!?".

The rumors did not stop there. Soon everyone in Bristol knew about Edward Kenway's supposed escape. Thankfully, most people thought that the rumors were merely an exaggeration, and that Edward was mature enough to venture and do some business on his own. He was always very mature for his age after all. However the more the rumors were spreading, the more people's suspicion rose and the more depressed Caroline grew.

Ever since Edward had left, Caroline had become a real wreck. Even though Edward had only been missing for two days, she was extremely anxious. She could still not believe that Edward had left like this. According to Mr. Bernard, he had taken every singly weapon he had in his possession – Caroline for some reason was not surprised at all to find out that Edward had a great deal of weapons in his possession – and left to follow Lloyd William's trail.

What would Edward do? If he just wanted to steal her father's letter, he would be back already! So what was he after? Information on Williams? She did not even know where the man lived! And neither did Edward. What would happen to him, while he was going on a trip without even knowing the destination?

Would anyone hurt him? Or would he hurt himself?

* * *

Edward woke up with a groan. He was numb all over and his head was aching like he had laid it on something hard. The place he was in was dark and for some sort of reason it was swaying, and it took a while for him to realize that he was on a ship. Edward paused. What was he doing on a ship?

His memory returned gradually to him. The name Lloyd Williams came to his mind and he slowly remembered why he had embarked on the ship in the first place. He was planning on stealing a letter addressed from Emmet Scott to Williams and then investigating further on the young Templar.

So what was his current situation?

Edward called out in his mind for the spirit of his ever enthusiastic jackdaw and sharpened his senses as the world turned into the familiar black void in which all truth was revealed. The sugarcanes were glowing solely white, not only indicating a hiding place but also the fact that the plants were completely dead. However there were so many sugarcane boxes in here that they were blacking his Sight from going further. Edward pushed deeper and outer at the same time, and felt his senses sharpen even further.

Now he was tasting the colours of the world more than he was them. The scent of death from the sugarcanes left a foul taste in his mouth. He could feel his skin crawling as a response to the echo left behind by the steps of all the enemy presences on the ship. There were not many, but they were enough to be wary of. At the tip of his tongue he could feel the most important presences.

The man who glowed white was at the deck of the ship – maybe he was her owner? The ally… Edward had to search a bit harder for him. But eventually he found him. He was somewhere nearby, hiding among the cargo just like he himself was. Edward decided to talk to him later. The letter was glowing gold as expected; it was located somewhere above him.

He immediately jumped off his hiding spot. Without turning off his Eagle Vision, Edward sent ahead the spirit of his jackdaw to scout the way for any guards, with him following behind.

Edward went on a little further before realizing where the letter was. He bit back a curse. The letter was at the captain's cabin. He had to go through the lower deck where the beds and hence the majority of the sailors were, and then he had to sneak into the captain's cabin, which was only accessible through the upper deck.

It was by all means impossible to do all that and remain unnoticed. And killing people was not an option. He had to find another way. What if… What if he could go through the window? Could those windows at the back of the ship open? Most probably not. Perhaps the only solution was to go look for the letter in the middle of the night. But the Captain would be inside the cabin sleeping then, right? Edward shook his head to himself at his nervousness. A sleeping captain would not be a problem.

So what now? Everyone on the ship was still active. And he had no idea what time it was. First things first, information. He did not even know the ship's destination. The only person he could ask was the mysterious stowaway. He had to see him first.

* * *

People's correspondences could always contain valuable information; even if those people themselves did not realize it. Gossip was the sign of people's mood and towards which direction they were being heading or guided towards. Merchant transactions was a reflection of the country's current state. Rumors and suspicions could indicate secret activities of other people.

That was the reason why the ability to read between the lines was of outmost importance. Only with a clear mind and a broad perception one could see beyond the propaganda and the lies, to see beyond the image and into the matter. It was something that he had learned the hard way, when his family was first involved in the Assassin – Templar war.

There were not too many letters in that sack, but they were coming from various different places. Downtown, York, Bristol… There would be more letters coming once they reached their destination. Unimportant on their own, but all together those letters gave a great general image.

The captain was well asleep. He could only shake his head at the man's naivety. What kind of sailor was not always in alert when at sea? Sure, those waters were not plagued by pirates or anything of the like, but still, there could be a change of the wind or the weather at any given time. He was not a sailor himself, but that was common knowledge!

He turned close to the candlelight to see the names of the letters more closely. He raised an eyebrow in interest as soon as he saw the name and the seal. Emmet Scott. A Templar. Who could he be sending this letter to?

"Didn't know that reading People's Letters was for the rich Blokes a favourite Pastime. Figured you were up to Something weird.".

His neck and attention snapped to the man who had just entered. How in the world did he not hear him? His first thought was to draw his sword and defend himself, but if the man had the intention to attack him, he would have already done so. Instead, he started examining the man.

Or he would, if he was not interrupted by a third voice. "Wh- Who are the two of you?".

* * *

To his parents he had always been the perfect child. Perfect manners, sweet face, and a good head for a merchant. He was good enough with the numbers, and his grades by his various tutors were always perfect. But there was always this one thing they chided him for.

Plenty of things, actually. He considered himself to be very good at sneaking up on others. He could stay in a room full of people for hours and nobody would even notice that he was there. He could eavesdrop on conversations. He could steal pies and cookies from the kitchen without getting caught.

And he knew that when he was in places full of strange people, he should always have his eyes and ears open.

So imagine his surprise and terror when he overheard two strangers talking in the captain's cabin in the middle of the night. Those people could be up to anything! What if they were smugglers? He had to do something! And so, he walked into the room.

"Who- Who are the two of you?".

Both men turned in surprise at the sudden intrusion, and he was even more surprised with their appearance.

The first one made him tremble. He was a very young man with blond hair tied in a ponytail and a scar on his right cheek. His eyes seemed to glow gold like a wild animal's under the candlelight. He was wearing dark clothes like a smuggler, and after a more careful look he noticed that he was carrying a sword with him; but he had a feeling that he was carrying many more weapons than that.

The other one was even more weird. He was even richer than himself – and that said quite a lot. He was also armed with a sword and he was holding a sealed letter. His hair were brown, his eyes a typical blue and he was a few years older than himself.

The blond man seemed to stare at him with something between surprise and recognition – but the emotions made him feel even more put off than he was before. Something was terribly wrong with that man. So he turned to the other one.

"You sir must be the Owner of this Vessel.", commented the brown-haired man.

He could only stare at him. He was a very rich man who was a stowaway on a merchant vessel in company with the owner of the ship and an armed to the teeth smuggler, and he was acting like they were all engaged in a friendly conversation. In the captain's cabin with the captain himself asleep to boot!

"What- what are you doing on this Ship?".

"Relax, Mate.", said the blond man, in an oddly comforting tone which made him hesitate somehow. "We're not here to do Anything bad. At least, I'm not.".

"Then why are you here?".

The blond man seemed to consider how to answer for a second. "Edward Kenway.", he finally said while offering a handshake. "I'm here to steal a Letter addressed to my Girlfriend's Fiancé.".

"Stede Bonnet.", he replied accepting the handshake. "My Father is the Sugar Merchant who owns this Ship.".

"Duncan Walpole. And I'm trying to get to London while incognito.". **[1]**

It was the start of an odd alliance, and hopefully long to last.

* * *

 **Author note: Thank you so much for your reviews! They made me really happy. I inform you all that this is the last chapter of the original version of "The Seeker". I don't know when I'll be able to start rewriting the story, or whether I will edit the chapters here, or rewrite it from scratch. Anyway, if the later happens, the fanfic will be under the title "The Seeker: rewritten". The plot will not change; I will only imporve the quality of the chapters and fix some details and historical facts that I got wrong. Please tell me which of the two solutions above you prefer.**

 **Another thing: I have two more fanfics in mind that will take place in the same universe with "The Seeker". The first will be Bernard's background story and the second will be about the Human - Precursor war. Honestly, I prefer the second since I believe that I'll manage to get the full details of Bernard's past in future chapters, but still tell me what you prefer.**

 **[1] I bet you did not see that coming! I'm telling you, this is only the beginning of the chaos in Edward's life. Originally, I was planing to use Duncan Walpole's cousin, George, but then I figured "why not?". It will only make his betrayal more stinging once we enter the Black Flag plot-line. As for the reason I put Stede Bonnet in there... You'll see. I think he deserves a bit more love than what he gets. And above all, this is the stage when the base for the Black Flag AU is established. One thing I'm telling you for sure - London won't know what hit it.**

 **Please review!**


	14. Author note 2

p style="text-align: center;"strongThe Seeker; rewritten is up!/strong/p  
p style="text-align: center;"strongPlease take a look at the prologue and tell me your opinion!/strong/p  
p style="text-align: center;"strongWill you prefer this version of "The Seeker", or the original? It's too ealry to tell, but please leave a review and a bit of support!/strong/p  
p style="text-align: center;"strongAnyway, the question still stands: do you want to read a full-detailed version of Adam's tale?/strong/p 


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